


road rash

by ceoseungri



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, M/M, Skateboarding, mentions of drugs and self-harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-09-01 23:15:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 99,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8642065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceoseungri/pseuds/ceoseungri
Summary: "it's because i like you.""why the hell would you like me?"hoseok is a depressed young kid but guys at the skate park help him get his life back togetherand there he also meets hyungwon





	1. Chapter 1

Hoseok didn't exactly hate school but on a Monday morning like that, there was nothing he would rather do less than get his ass up and go there.

He hadn't fallen asleep until three in the morning and that was why he was tired as heck. He wanted to go sleep earlier so waking up wouldn't be so hard but he just wasn't tired at nights and rolled around in his bed for several hours before falling asleep.

He sat on the edge of his bed for good ten minutes, wondering if going to school was really worth it. Then he heard his mother yelling to see if he was up. Hoseok fell back to his bed. If it wasn't for his mom he could stay home but no, he had to get himself up, throw some clothes on from the day before and say good morning to his mother as he left for school.

His mother wasn't easily fooled and being absent from school was really hard if he wasn't sick for real and unfortunately he didn't get sick often.

He walked to the bus stop with hands inside his hoodie pockets. It was not cold nor warm outside because it was only September. Autumn was Hoseok's favorite season - even though he disliked every season - because it was dark and rained often. Hoseok liked things like that even though most of the people didn't.

The bus came after ten minutes of waiting. Hoseok took one of his headphones because he knew someone would talk to him.

He sat with Minhyuk and Byungchul like he usually did. They weren't really the nicest people but there were no one else Hoseok knew on that bus. Also the two of them would be butthurt if Hoseok ignored them.

"What's up?" Byungchul asked. He smelled like E-cigarettes as always. He and Minhyuk thought they were cool vaping instead of smoking but Hoseok thought it was really annoying, especially because they did it in public, sometimes even on the bus.

Hoseok shrugged. He never knew how to answer when someone asked how he was doing. He didn't want to open up about his life. He didn't really feel anything except on the times when it suddenly got dark and he felt only negative feelings.

"I have geography exam today. It sucks," Hoseok said after a while of thinking what he should answer.

He had first noticed that there might be something wrong with him when he lost his interest in things he used to like. During the past year he had hit so low points in his life that he almost wanted to quit school. His mother never worried enough to send him to a psychiatrist or something, she just told him to go out and be happy.

"Math is fucking worst," Byungchul said with his low tone of voice.

"What did you do last night?" Minhyuk asked next. Hoseok got suspicious because they usually never asked things like that and when they did, it was because they had something on their minds.

"Nothing," he answered. It was true. He had mostly just laid on his bed and scrolled through his phone.

"Just the basic, right?" Minhyuk said with a smile on his face. "Slitting your wrists open with a kitchen knife."

Hoseok didn't say anything. Byungchul laughed and Hoseok wanted to tell them that it wasn't funny. They really shouldn't joke about things like that. He decided to keep his mouth shut because he knew that they wouldn't understand. Also he wasn't really that good at making comebacks.

"So it is true?" Minhyuk continued joking, not realizing that he was already crossing the line and that there were people on the bus who would hear them. "Show me."

Hoseok yanked his arm away from Byungchul who tried to grab it. "No," he managed let out and put his hands to his pockets.

"Relax, I was just joking", Minhyuk quickly defended himself, surprised that Hoseok acted that way. "You don't need to take everything so seriously."

Hoseok didn't say anything during the rest of the bus ride. Minhyuk and Byungchul kept talking to each other about this and that. Hoseok didn't really care to be part of their conversation. His and their interests were totally different and he never got along with them well anyways.

When they arrived to school, he got off the bus and walked to a different direction than Byungchul and Minhyuk who had went to the place where all the students smoke. Hoseok usually never went there, he had his own smoking place and no one else ever dared to go there because they knew it was Hoseok's place. People thought he was somewhat weird so no one wanted to interrupt him.

Instead of going for a smoke - he wasn't actually a smoker, it was just a thing he did sometimes - he arrived to the classroom and took out his books to use them as a pillow when he laid his head on the desk.

He heard a clatter and opened his eyes to see Jooheon coming to sit next to him. He had a skateboard with him and that was what made all the loud noise.

Hoseok cleared his throat and lifted his head up from the desk. "Since when do you skate?" he asked. Jooheon had been on the same grade with him for their whole lives which was why they sometimes talked, even though they weren't actually that friendly.

"I don't," Jooheon answered simply and earned a questioning look from Hoseok. "This is for Changkyun," he explained, patting the deck of the brand-new looking skateboard.

"What the..." Hoseok muttered and turned his head to face the other way as he laid back on the desk.

"Want to come too?" Jooheon asked and Hoseok had to turn back to him again, letting out a rather annoyed sigh as he did so.

"Where?"

"Skate park," Jooheon simply said. Hoseok was in wonderment that Jooheon even suggested something like that.

"I don't skate," he answered and was about to put his head back to the table when Jooheon still continued talking.

"I know. Just come hang out. You never go out anyways."

After that Jooheon stood up and walked across the class to his own seat. Some random girl who was the real owner of the seat Jooheon had just been in, came and Hoseok continued sleeping. He didn't even think about what Jooheon had just said. The whole thing was silly. Hoseok didn't go out or hang around with people, Jooheon knew it better than anyone. Maybe he was trying to change things, thinking that perhaps Hoseok would be less depressed if he had real friends.

Hoseok always thought that people didn't pay attention to him, how he acted and if he seemed well because he didn't have friends like that. In reality, Jooheon cared a lot, he just wasn't in the position to say anything.

-

Hoseok would probably never have found himself at the skate park if he hadn't been doing geography exam for too long and missed the bus.

The exam was hard and he had spent whole one and a half hour, trying to perfect his answers so he would get enough points to pass the exam, only to having to hurry out at some point without even completing the last essay.

When he got out of the doors, he saw the bus leaving and let out a curse because if he knew this would happen, he could have finished that essay. He looked at his phone for the time, only to get even more annoyed when he found out that he was two minutes early. Why those bus drivers were always in such a hurry? It was like they had a competition about who left the first.

Hoseok's mother worked in a mall just a mile away and Hoseok knew that if he walked there and waited for a few hours, he could get home with his mother. That was the only way if he didn't want to walk almost four miles - it really wasn't that much but he would rather wait than walk.

On his way to the mall, he passed the skate park. He saw Jooheon there, going up a ramp with a BMX bike. With him there was also Yoonsun, a tomboy girl who Hoseok didn't really know but she was pretty, and Kihyun. Yoonsun was going around with a skateboard and Kihyun just watched her.

"Yo Hoseok!" Jooheon yelled just when Hoseok was about to go past the park. "Come here."

Feeling a bit anxious inside, Hoseok turned around and walked to the skate park. Kihyun looked at him for a moment but the girl didn't pay any attention. Hoseok went to sit next to him.

"Watch this," Jooheon said and started speeding towards the ramp again. Hoseok followed as he jumped and landed on top of the ramp with only his back wheel, bounced a few times and then went back down.

Hoseok had never understood why someone had the effort to do practice tricks for long and do the same things everyday but it still looked fun. He continued watching what Jooheon did.

"Move," Yoonsun came and made Kihyun and Hoseok move towards the edges so she could sit in between them. Kihyun gave her a Coca-Cola can. "Why is this almost empty?" she asked after shaking it.

Kihyun shrugged. "I was thirsty," he said simply and took the can back from Yoonsun after she had taken a sip. He drank the rest and threw it towards the trash can. It didn't go even near.

"I will sleep at your place tonight," Yoonsun said and Kihyun furrowed his brows. "Dad is home again and I don't want to be there," she explained after seeing Kihyun's expression. Hoseok felt awkward sitting next to them.

Then he saw someone coming. It was Changkyun, the person Jooheon had also mentioned before. Jooheon came to where Hoseok was and Changkyun followed. He took the skateboard that was behind Hoseok's back and gave it to Changkyun who let out a gasp as he saw it.

"Nice, isn't it," Jooheon said with a smug smile. Hoseok followed Changkyun's expression and found it kinda weirs that someone was so cheerful seeing a new skateboard.

"Woah, this is really expensive," Changkyun said, running his fingers along the deck and wheels. No one knew why Jooheon was always trying to kiss Changkyun's ass. Maybe he was afraid the said guy wouldn't like him.

"I thought it was time for you to upgrade," Jooheon said and Changkyun cracked to a wide smile. He took a few quicker steps, stepped on top of the board and started to test it out.

Jooheon followed him and so did Yoonsun. Kihyun instead was only looking at Yoonsun and Hoseok found it funny. Kihyun was so see-through and Hoseok wondered it Yoonsun or the others also noticed it.

Then someone else arrived with a kick scooter. Hoseok recognized him but didn't know his name so he couldn't say hi when the guy came to sit next to him.

"I don't think I have seen you here before," he said and Hoseok thought his head through for the name. It was Hyunwoo - he remembered it after he got home.

"I invited him," Jooheon answered before Hoseok could say anything.

"Thank you, Jooheon," Hyunwoo said calmly, trying to suggest Jooheon to keep his mouth shut. He sat next to Hoseok and Jooheon walked to where Changkyun was.

"Jooheon is such a fuckboy, I feel bad for Changkyun," Hyunwoo said and Hoseok let out a laugh because it was true. Changkyun would probably suffer a lot. "Do you know Jooheon?"

"I know him but he is not my friend," Hoseok answered and he heard Yoonsun snort at that.

"Don't let him hear that. He thinks he is friends with everyone," Yoonsun said and then she got up with Kihyun. It looked like they were about to leave. Kihyun got on to the motorcycle behind them. "Bye Hoseok. You should come here more often," she said before putting on a helmet and getting on behind Kihyun.

"Do you skate?" Hyunwoo asked after the two had left. Hoseok shook his head. "Yeah me neither. But I scoot. It's way more fun."

Hoseok looked over him at his scooter. He found it kinda childish but he didn't judge.

"Hyunwoo," Changkyun called and came over to them. He stopped before almost running over Hoseok's toes and kicked his broad up. "Do you have any use for my old deck?" he asked, sitting next to Hoseok. He took his old broad from the ground and offered it to Hyunwoo.

"You know what happens if I try to skate," Hyunwoo refused. Changkyun snorted and nodded quickly because he remembered what had happened last time Hyunwoo had tried. It was weird how someone who handled kick scooting so well was a total loser when it came to skateboarding.

"You could give it to Gunhee," Jooheon, who had came to them too, suggested. "He will use it to buy drugs."

Changkyun glanced at him in a bad way. "Do you want this?" he then asked and Hoseok got startled of being spoken to.

"Me?" he asked, looking at Changkyun and then down at the used, old-looking skateboard.

"He doesn't skate," Jooheon spoke for him again.

"Did I ask you?" Changkyun said to Jooheon with annoyed tone and tilted his head. Hoseok had never seen this side of Jooheon before but apparently the guy didn't even mind annoying so many people. No one actually disliked Jooheon, they just liked to tease him because he was such a windbag. "Do you want this?"

"Like Jooheon said, I can't skate," Hoseok stuttered but kept staring at the skateboard because it still interested him.

"Try it," Changkyun said and placed it to the ground in front of Hoseok.

Hyunwoo pushed Hoseok to make him stand up. Hoseok put his right foot on top of the board and moved it back and forth a bit to test how easily it moved.

He kicked speed from the ground and somehow managed to get both of his feet on top of the skateboard without losing his balance. It felt weird at first and he had to spread out his arms to stay up but after a few meters when the speed started to go down, he could just be there comfortably.

"Don't be so stiff," Jooheon guided him even though as a non-skateboarder he was not the best to give advice.

The skateboard stopped moving and Hoseok had to step off from it. He turned it around a bit clumsily and came back in a same way he had went to the other way but this time with a bit more speed. Changkyun put his foot in the way so the board stopped there.

"That's a Alien Workshop deck and you better treat it well," he warned. Hoseok flipped the broad over to see the artistic image on the bottom. It was already really damaged from all the grinding and other using but you could still make out what used to be there. "The trucks are kinda loose so learning to turn and stuff like that will be easy."

"I will take care of it," Hoseok assured, turning the skateboard back to the right way and stepping on top of it with a one foot.

After that, Changkyun and Jooheon left together. Jooheon riding his bike and Changkyun skateboarding next to him. They went the same way at first but then turned to different directions.

"I'm going too," Hyunwoo then said and stood up. "I hope you show up here more often, there are many other guys you would like to meet," he said and took his scooter. Hoseok's eyes followed him go up the ramp once before kicking off.

Hoseok practiced skating there alone for hours after everyone else had left. It wasn't as easy as he thought but he was finally getting a hand of it. He was just doing good and could already turn with it when his mother called, asking where he was. Only then he realized that he had missed the ride he had been supposed to go home with.

"Can you pick me up in an hour?" Hoseok asked because he really didn't want to leave yet even though it was already dark and cold outside. He got half a hour of mercy from his mother and spent the whole time continuing to practice. He wanted to impress the others by being really good when he would show up there the following day. He didn't even pay attention to the blood coming from the dirty cuts on his palms. Skateboarding wasn't easy and he had fell down a few times but those mistakes just made him keep going and learn more.


	2. Chapter 2

After seeing how into Hoseok was to skateboarding, it was no surprise to anyone that the following day, he was at the park before no one else. He had skipped the bus in the morning and cycled to school with the skateboard between his backpack and himself. After school he hurried to the park to be there before others.

He left his backpack to the bench, his bike next to it and started skating. After practicing so hard and then sleeping so his brain would memorize it, he handled skateboarding pretty well already - or at least compared to the day before. He wasn't doing any tricks yet, the thought of going on top of the ramp seemed scary but just went around on the flat ground.

It had been the first time in months that he had felt excited getting up and leaving for school. The school part of the day was shit like usual but during breaks he took his skateboard with him to his usual smoking place. He tried to do some ollie type of thing because he had seen Changkyun doing it a lot at the park before. Of course, Hoseok didn't even know how to do it so he ended up falling down and almost hitting his head on the wall.

"I did not expect to see you here this soon," a guy arriving with a scooter said. Hoseok flashed him a smile and jumped off his skateboard, taking a few running steps to catch it. "There is this one guy who hangs around here sometimes and he wanted to learn skateboarding."

"Uh-huh," Hoseok stepped on the end of his board and caught the another end with his hand as it came up.

"He didn't have your patience and he gave up after a day because he just kept falling and wouldn't learn to keep his balance," Hyunwoo rolled the bar of his scooter around as he spoke.

"I fell only a few times," Hoseok let go of the board to show his palms that looked nasty. "I guess my balance is naturally good."

Hyunwoo laughed and Hoseok wondered why because he hadn't intended to say anything funny. Hyunwoo started to scoot towards one of the ramps. Hoseok continued to skate around. A few times he let his board go up the ramp for a meter or something with the speed he had. He thought that he should probably ask Changkyun to teach him something because he still couldn't even understand how to do an ollie.

Just after he had thought about that, Changkyun, Jooheon and some guy whose name Hoseok didn't know, arrived. Jooheon and the third guy were riding bikes and Changkyun was holding Jooheon's shoulder so he wouldn't have to do any work and could just stand on top of his skateboard without doing anything.

"Do you see that?" Changkyun gasped to Jooheon, pointing at Hoseok who flashed them a smile in a same manner he had done with Hyunwoo. Changkyun let go of Jooheon's shoulder and skated to where Hoseok was, doing an ollie to jump on top of the funbox before landing next to Hoseok. "Are you doing good."

"I wish I could do something like that," Hoseok answered, referring to what Changkyun had done before.

"Slow down, mate. You can't learn to skateboard in one day," Changkyun laughed and patted Hoseok's shoulders. He was actually the same age with Hoseok but still acted like he was much more mature than him. "But I will teach you some day if you want," he continued after Hoseok seemed to be disappointed by the fact that he couldn't do any of the 'fun stuff' yet.

Changkyun started to skateboard towards one of the ramps and Hoseok skated to the bench where Hyunwoo was now too. He sat down just in time to see Jooheon almost running over Changkyun with his BMX.

Hoseok opened a can of energy drink he had bought on his way from school to the skate park.

"Can I have a sip?" Hyunwoo asked and Hoseok gave him the can without even saying anything. He followed what the other guys did at the ramps. The new guy whose name Hoseok didn't know was much more clumsy as a skater, he was not even near Changkyun's level, even though Hoseok wasn't the best person to judge that.

He got the can back from Hyunwoo and placed it on top of his skateboard that was on the ground. He felt enthusiastic being at the skate park even when he was only hanging out and that was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

He suddenly felt like smoking a cigarette so he put hands to his back pockets to reach the pack that wasn't there. He had thrown it away previously on the same day because it had been empty.

He saw a pack of menthol L&M's on top of the backpack next to him and wondered if he could get one. "Hey Gallagher!" he shouted the name that came to his mind when he looked at the unknown boy. The one who was a not that good of a skater - based on what Hoseok had seen - and Hoseok had a slight guess that it might be his backpack.

"I think he is talking to you, Gingerboy," Jooheon said to the red haired guy who then turned to look at Hoseok and started heading over to him.

"What the hell is a Gallagher," he said with a confused look on his face as he arrived to where Hoseok and Hyunwoo were. He looked really young and Hoseok then remembered that he was in one grade lower than him.

"Sorry, I didn't know your name," Hoseok stuttered and then quickly remembered what had been the original reason he had called for the ginger. "Are these yours?" he asked with the pack of cigarettes on his hand.

"Yep, they're mine. You can have one if you want just 'cause you new," Gingerboy said with a weird but cool accent. "Gimme too."

Hoseok took two cigarettes, putting one to his own lips and giving the other one to the redhead. He took a lighter from his pocket and Gingerboy moved the backpack so he could sit next to Hoseok who first lit up his own smoke. Then Gingerboy leaned closer so Hoseok could light up his too.

He let out a puff of smoke and then took the cigarette from his lips. He adjusted his snapback before speaking. "You're friends with Minhyuk, right?" he asked, sounding so normal that Hoseok wondered if he was serious or not.

"Kind of. Where did you get that idea?" he asked while tapping his cigarette against the bench.

"I just heard them talking 'bout you today," Gingerboy said bluntly. "I've always thought you were friends but based on what I heard 'em say I guessed that you may not be after all."

Hoseok got curious. He exhaled some smoke and then took his energy drink from the ground. "What did they say?"

"It's better if you don't know."

Hoseok wanted to know but Gingerboy seemed like the type of a guy you just can't get information out if they want to keep it from you. "Well it can't be something I haven't already heard," he offered the can to Ginger but he just shook his head.

"Minhyuk and Byungchul are assholes," he simply said and let out a sigh. "Most of the people who hang around here are assholes. But then there are people like me," he let out a dry laugh after praising himself.

"Minhyuk is not really even that bad..."

"Changkyun is so nice that it's unhealthy. That's why he is Gunhee's bitch," he said and Changkyun heard the latter sentence which caused him to show a middle finger to Gingerboy. "Well, maybe not to me anyways."

Hoseok smiled a little and blew air out of his nose to express his amusement. Gingerboy threw the cigarette butt to the ground and stepped on it. Then he took his skateboard and went back to the ramps. Hoseok decided to sit there and watch how the pros do it for a while because there were pretty many people already and him fooling around with his poor skills would only cause destruction.

-

After an hour, Hyunwoo left and Kihyun came with Yoonsun. Hoseok was skating again so he didn't notice Yoonsun joining them at first and got surprised when someone suddenly curved from his left. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kihyun sitting on the bench in the same place as the day before. Like Hoseok had already understood, Kihyun wasn't interested in skateboarding or any other activity like that. He just wanted to hang around wherever Yoonsun was.

Hoseok watched as Yoonsun jumped on top of the bar with the skateboard and managed to balance on top of it until the bar ended and she continued her way to the ramp. She was awesome and Hoseok thought it was no wonder Kihyun liked her.

"Oh shit," Kihyun said suddenly and everyone's attention turned to him. He was looking to the other direction.

"Changkyun, look who is coming," Yoonsun sounded gleeful saying that. Hoseok turned to look at Changkyun who stopped skating to see who was coming. Hoseok knew who it was. Everyone in the neighborhood knew.

"What are you doing here?" Jooheon asked when the person came to the park with a longboard, going around the bench and then stopping to Changkyun, giving a judging look from the corner of his eye to Hoseok and probably everyone else too.

Gunhee took two joints from under his snapback behind his ear. He gave the other one to Changkyun. Jooheon, who usually looked self-confident, now seemed uncomfortable and instead of continuing to hang with Changkyun, he started BMX-ing alone. Gunhee took a lighter from his pocket and lit up his joint. He let out a puff of smoke from his mouth before giving the lighter to Changkyun.

"Where is Hyungwon?" Gunhee asked and Hoseok thought his voice sounded scarily demanding. His whole presence was the kind that made you want to stay away if you didn't feel like getting into trouble. Hoseok knew why Changkyun was with him. It was because Changkyun was so kind that people could easily boss him around and he was the only person who couldn't tell Gunhee off.

"I don't know," Changkyun answered after lighting up his own joint too and giving the lighter back to Gunhee.

"Why?"

"Why what? Why are you looking for him?" Changkyun sounded salty. Gunhee was almost always looking for something or someone whenever he came by. Changkyun was holding the joint of weed down and occasionally bringing it to his lips, only taking as small hits as possible. He didn't like getting high all that much but he couldn't say no to Gunhee.

"He owes me something?" Gunhee muttered with furrowed eyebrows. He blew out a smoke ring that didn't turn out all that well so he shook it away with his hand.

"Again? What is it this time?"

Hoseok went to sit where Kihyun was so he wouldn't draw any extra attention towards himself by just standing there.

"It's none of your business," Gunhee sighed heavily and smoke came out of his nose. He looked away from Changkyun.

"Did he fuck Jennie or something?" Jooheon joked, knowing he was annoying Gunhee and preparing to pay for it. Jennie was a subject you shouldn't bring to the conversation with him.

"I bet he did," Gunhee said with gritted teeth.

"That's far-fetched," Yoonsun suddenly commented. She had a point and everybody knew it. Gunhee was just trying to find more reasons against Hyungwon. They had never gotten along at all.

"Have you never even seen Hyungwon with Jennie? Or any other girl?" Kihyun said next. They were all joining together at making Gunhee annoyed.

"He is so married to his skateboard that he doesn't even look at girls," Gingerboy, who had stopped skating for a while and was now sitting next to Hoseok again, said. They weren't lying but only mixing up the truth to get Gunhee away from Hyungwon's throat. In reality Hyungwon was often hitting on people without even thinking about if they liked him - not Jennie though, he was wise enough to avoid that trouble.

"He kissed me once," Yoonsun shrugged and saw the look in Kihyun's eyes widen a little.

"You don't count since you're like a living skateboard and look like a dude anyways," Jooheon said. Kihyun looked at him in a bad way and Yoonsun continued skating.

"Whatever, he still owes me something," Gunhee snapped. He took Changkyun's skateboard and gave the joint to him. "Tell me if you see him."

Changkyun came to sit with the others. He offered the other joint to all three of them. Gingerboy was the one to take it when Hoseok and Kihyun both had shaken their heads. He smoked only one hit and then gave it back to Changkyun. None of them liked drugs, Gunhee was the only one of them who was like that.

"Who is Hyungwon," Hoseok asked carefully, leaning a bit towards Gingerboy who during that evening had shown that he was a straight up person. The red headed one let out a small snort.

"Hyungwon is a legend," he explained with a bit of a shimmer in his eyes.

"He is really shady and probably cold as fuck," Kihyun said next but it didn't give Hoseok any better idea of who the person was.

"He grew up at this park but now he doesn't come here often anymore," Gingerboy sounded bittersweet saying that. From what Hoseok understood, they must have looked up to Hyungwon to be saying that he was a legend.

"This place is too undistinguished for him now when he is like a pro."

"I wonder how good is he," Hoseok said. In his eyes, Changkyun and especially Gunhee seemed already awesome, he thought even Gingerboy was good. If Hyungwon was way above all of them, he must be outstanding.

"If he comes here some day, I will make sure to introduce you," Changkyun assured with a smile. Gunhee came back for his joint and then left with his longboard just like he had arrived. Changkyun seemed to let out a relived sigh.

"I'm leaving!" Jooheon yelled while cycling away with his BMX, raising one hand as to wave goodbye.

"Without me?" Changkyun quickly jumped on top of his skateboard and followed Jooheon who didn't stop to wait so Changkyun had to kick speed hard and fast like a rabbit.

Gingerboy suddenly stood up. He kicked his board up from the ground so it came to his hand. He looked at Hoseok with a wide smile for a moment before asking: "Want to learn an ollie?"


	3. Chapter 3

Hoseok arrived to school late because he overslept. He had spent time at the skate park until midnight. Everyone else had left hours before him, telling him to go home and rest too. Gingerboy wasn't all that good of a teacher but somehow Hoseok had understood him and learned. By the time he left, he couldn't yet do the ollie but was already getting a hand of it. Of course it had taken him many failures that ended to him getting in contact with the asphalt and disappointed sighs when he just couldn't succeed. He knew that ollie was easy and that made him even more ambitious. There was no way he could not do it. That was why he wasn't going to give up and go home before he would get it right.

Because he was late, he didn't see the annoying duo, Minhyuk and Byungchul at all. He was glad but at the same time it made him feel somewhat empty because he was used to seeing and hearing them everywhere all the time.

He sat to his usual seat and pressed his head against the desk immediately. He didn't even bother to listen to what the teacher was talking about in the first place. He never had motivation in school. Before exams he would just study home so he could pass. Sometimes he still got good grades. He was smart even though he didn't think so himself.

Jooheon was sitting in the other side of the class. He was focused on what the teacher was saying, or at least he made it seem that way. Truthfully, it was likely that everyone in that class was half asleep because the history of literature was one of the most tiring things you could imagine eight in the morning.

After the really boring class during which Hoseok had actually fallen asleep two times but been thrown with a pen by the teacher, Jooheon came to sit next to him, in the same seat than two days ago.

"Are you coming to the park today?" Jooheon asked and leaned back in the chair to raise his feet on top of the poor random girl's deck.

"Yes," Hoseok answered. It was a dumb question. He couldn't stay away even if he wanted to. He had more passion than ever, especially now after the night before.

"Awesome. Do you got any food?" Jooheon looked around to see it Hoseok even had a backpack with him. To get some snack was the main reason he came to talk to Hoseok.

Hoseok shook his head. He wasn't the type to eat snacks the during the day, he didn't really even have a passion for food like that. He just ate when he was hungry. Also he was too poor to waste money on candy and such. Jooheon looked disappointed and it made Hoseok almost wish that he would have something with him.

"Alright. I'll go find Changkyun then," Jooheon said and left.

Hyungwon was about to continue sleeping but he kept thinking if he should go hang out with Jooheon and Changkyun. He had always known Jooheon but they were never good friends. Now he kind of regretted it. Jooheon had started to seem like he was more than a fuckboy like everyone said. He was actually a nice person.

"Aw, fuck it," Hoseok muttered to himself and stormed out of the class, trying to figure out which way Jooheon had went. He then saw him and Changkyun sitting in the stairs together.

"Hi Hoseok," Changkyun greeted him with a happy smile when he arrived. Hoseok noticed that Jooheon was eating some chips so apparently his food hunt had been successful. "How are you doing."

"Good," Hoseok shrugged and leaned against the wall next to them. "Are you both coming to the park today?" he asked to make up some conversation. It was like a skill he was lacking.

"Of course. We are there everyday," Changkyun said and took some chips from the bag in Jooheon's lap.

"Except when it rains or is cold," Jooheon added. "Will it rain today, though?"

"No."

"I thought it was supposed to rain."

"Tomorrow is. Today will be sunny," Changkyun argued and it didn't take more than that to make Jooheon believe him.

"Well if tomorrow rains then what are we supposed to do," Jooheon pouted. Hoseok felt left out of their conversation but he didn't even mind.

"My place or your place?"

"Let's think about that later."

-

When Hoseok arrived to the skate park after school, some others were already there. Changkyun and Kihyun were sitting on top of one of the ramps. Hoseok climbed up there too after avoiding Jooheon who almost ran over him. He sat next to Kihyun with his feet hanging over the edge against the curvy ramp. Gingerboy was at the park too, he was just skating around. Yoonsun wasn't there though which was weird because Kihyun was. Ginger skated up to the flat in the middle of the ramp.

"What's up, Gallagher," Hoseok greeted him with the new nickname he had came up with. Gingerboy looked at him weirdly.

"D'you stay here for long yesterday?" he asked.

"I left around twelve," Hoseok said and Changkyun's mouth opened in surprise after hearing that.

"You're devoted," he snorted and looked away to Jooheon.

"Show me then," Gingerboy encouraged, moving a bit out of the way so Hoseok could get down.

"Ah, I don't know about that..." he muttered, awkwardly scratching the scars in his hands that had appeared there when he had fallen down.

"C'mon, c'mon," Ginger pulled him down from his arm. "I bet you can do it better than Changkyun anyways," he continued with a smirk and Hoseok looked over his shoulder to see Changkyun roll his eyes at that.

"I can't yet," Hoseok muttered. He didn't want to everyone at the park see him fail and he wasn't yet confident enough of his skills. Gingerboy pushed him down from the ramp.

"I'll give you my cap if you can ollie from the ground to this flat," he said and Hoseok suddenly got more excited. He looked at Gingerboy for a while. He had a really nice snapback that Hoseok hadn't seen on anyone else ever before.

"Alright then," he put his skateboard on the ground and stepped on it. He turned around in a few movements and focused fully to what he was about to do. He knew how to do it and he was ambitious. He had a feeling that this was the time he would success. He did what he was supposed to, the board came up from the ground, his weight shifted and --

"Damn it," Jooheon cursed when Hoseok fell backwards after getting in contact with the flat. It had went well until Hoseok had lost his balance in the landing.

"That was good," Kihyun cheered while Hoseok got up from the ground and took his skateboard.

"You're not gon' get my snapback, though," Gingerboy laughed and took his hat out of his head for a second to adjust his hair before putting it back. "I'd never give this up."

Hoseok let out an awkward laugh and started skateboarding. Gallagher joined him and Changkyun, annoyed that he had been dissed, tried to do what Hoseok had just done, getting it done perfectly after just one try. They just skated around for a while and everyone was amazed of how good Hoseok, who had found his way to the park just two days before, was already.

"Germany alert!" Jooheon suddenly yelled at one point when Hoseok was just making his way to the ramp where Kihyun was still sitting.

"Who?" he asked from Kihyun with a confused look on his face. Everyone seemed to have weird nicknames here.

"Minhyuk. We call him Germany because no one really likes him and he causes all the fights," Kihyun explained and Hoseok looked to see Minhyuk and Byungchul approaching. He didn't like that.

"How is that related to Germany though?" Hoseok wondered. He didn't know much about history but he was quite sure that Germany hadn't been the cause of the world wars alone.

"I don't know. Yoonsun came up with that a while back," Kihyun shrugged.

The two walked to where Hoseok and Kihyun were and got up to sit next to them, clumsy Byungchul struggling a little.

"Aren't you hot in that hoodie?" Byungchul asked from Hoseok with a teasing tone. Hoseok just looked straight ahead and tried to ignore them.

"I thought you were fed up with us but apparently this is why you haven't came with the bus in two days," Minhyuk wondered and Hoseok still tried his best to ignore them.

"I was," he muttered anyways, knowing that Minhyuk would find it amusing.

"Do you feel sick?" Byungchul asked with a mocking tone. "Fever?" he continued and Minhyuk, who was totally into it, put his hand on Hoseok's forehead to test if he actually had temperature. Hoseok flicked his hand away.

"It is unusual to see your angsty, suicidal ass outside," Minhyuk said and Hoseok just wished that he would shut up. "Last time you tried to be outgoing it lasted less than a week." Gingerboy came back to where they were. He had angry look in his eyes.

"Hey lil' Germany and big Soviet Union or something. Get the fuck outta here if you're goin' to be like that," he snapped to both of the guys next to Hoseok. "You don't even skate."

"I'm just hanging with a friend," Minhyuk said and put his arm around Hoseok's shoulder to pull the uncomfortable looking guy close to him. Hoseok grabbed his hand and tried to get him to release him.

"He is not your friend," Gingerboy sighed. Minhyuk let go of Hoseok and pushed him away. Then he jumped down to be on the same level with Gingerboy.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" he asked, coming unnecessarily close to angry looking red haired guy. Everyone who had been around for a long time knew that Gingerboy had some anger issues. He was one of those guys you didn't want to get mad. Ginger was small but dangerous and right now he was still trying to hold himself back.

A scent of caramel came to Gingerboy's nostrils and he snapped to look at Byungchul who was sitting in a thick cloud of smoke from the Vape. He let out an annoyed sigh, heavy enough that Byungchul could hear it and turned back to Minhyuk.

"Calm down Ginger. They will leave now," Kihyun, who had been watching the situation develop from the side, tried to make the furious redhead chill a little.

Minhyuk pushed Gingerboy from his shoulders and the guy had to take a step back. That was the last straw. Gallagher gritted his teeth before he pushed Minhyuk in the same manner he had just been pushed - except much harder - and Minhyuk stumbled down from the flat. Gingerboy was holding himself back rather well but Minhyuk was still going to pay.

"You know what'll happen if you fucking mess with me," he said and followed Minhyuk down.

"Oh do I?" Minhyuk asked, tilting his head. Hoseok followed what they did, his heart beating fast and wondering why Minhyuk was dumb enough to try to annoy Gingerboy. "You're pussy like our friend Hoseok, everyone knows it."

Gingerboy growled something no one could make out. Then his hand came in contact with Minhyuk's jaw. He was about to hit again when someone stopped him by grabbing his wrist and pushing Minhyuk away from him. Gingerboy let out furious groans and tried to kick to Minhyuk's direction because both of his hands were being held behind his back.

The guy was tall with messy hair, perfect facial structure and a confident smile. Hoseok was blew off by the way he looked and he felt something weird in his heart when the guy looked at him and their eyes met. Hoseok looked funny with his jaw hanging open and glossy eyes but the other guy didn't look away nor did his smile fade.

Gingerboy yanked his arms away from the guy who then turned to look at the red haired guy, breaking the eye contact he had with Hoseok. "So annoying," Gingerboy muttered and took his skateboard to make himself cool off while skating.

"Hyungwon always makes sudden appearances like that," Kihyun laughed.

"That is Hyungwon?" Hoseok whispered and Kihyun just nodded at him. Byungchul got down and went to Minhyuk who didn't look happy to see the new guy. They left before anyone got to tell them to.

"Did you meet Gunhee?" Jooheon asked, referring to the scars and bruises on Hyungwon's face that gave away he had been in a fight. Jooheon and Changkyun had came to where the others were when Hyungwon arrived.

"No but I ran into some other douche bags," Hyungwon explained. He came to sit next to Hoseok who turned awkward because he couldn't stop feeling irresistible attraction towards the guy. It was weird because he usually didn't get interested in anyone ever.

"Why are you here?" Gingerboy asked. He took his snapback off again, ran fingers through his hair and put it back. Then he came back up and made room for himself between Kihyun and Hoseok.

"I don't know yet," Hyungwon answered with a mysterious tone. Hoseok looked up and turned his head towards the guy next to him. Their eyes met again. "Does anyone got a skateboard?" he asked.

Hoseok took the one behind his back and offered it to Hyungwon who took it and looked at it for a while.

"Is this Changkyun's?" he asked when he noticed the familiar print.

"My old one. I gave it to Hoseok," Changkyun explained.

"Are you Hoseok?" Hyungwon turned to look at the guy sitting next to him. Hoseok just nodded. "You're getting your board back soon, Hoseok," he said and stood up. He put the skateboard on the edge of the ramp so that only a small part if it was on the top. He stepped on it and went down the ramp. He started skateboarding, doing all kinds of fancy tricks, jumping on top of the ramps and grinding on the bars. Hoseok thought he was amazing.

"He is so cool, isn't he," Changkyun sighed with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"He is," Gingerboy said in almost the same way. As skateboarders they were always admiring Hyungwon's skills but then there was Kihyun who didn't think he was all that special. Of course, he usually only saw Yoonsun so that explained a lot.

After skating for a while, Hyungwon came back to Hoseok who was now sitting alone. "Thanks," he said and gave the board back to him.

"Uhm..." Hoseok started, looking down on the skateboard because he didn't want more awkward eye contacts with Hyungwon. "I heard you don't come here often anymore."

"I prefer not to," Hyungwon said with bitterness in his voice. Hoseok looked up to him to see his expression.

"Why?" he already felt like he was asking too many questions because Hyungwon seemed like a someone who didn't like that.

"I don't like the people here," Hyungwon confessed and then there was a short silence. Hoseok himself thought most of the people here were quite nice. There were those who wasn't, for example Gunhee and the annoying duo, but most of the others were nice. He didn't know who Hyungwon meant by the people. "Do you come here often?"

"He is always here," Jooheon, who happened to hear that when he passed by as he was about to leave, answered before Hoseok had a change to.

"Did I fucking ask you?" Hyungwon said and Jooheon laughed. Hoseok smiled too because it was funny how everyone did that to Jooheon.

As Jooheon and Gingerboy left, Hoseok and Hyungwon were now the only ones there. Hyungwon got down and looked around. Then Hoseok took his skateboard and jumped down too.

"Are you leaving too?" Hyungwon asked and took his backpack.

"No, I'm staying for a while," Hoseok said and put his board down. He put one foot on top of it.

"I was just like you when I started," Hyungwon laughed a little. "I couldn't stay away from the park and I never wanted to even eat or sleep."

"How did you know I just started?" Hoseok asked, wondering if it was obvious.

"You're happy with Changkyun's shitty board and got road rash all over your hands and knees," Hyungwon said. Hoseok looked at his own scarred hands and then down to his legs. His pants were ripped from knees after he had fell down some times.

"Oh," Hoseok muttered and realized that he must seem like a total noob. He looked at Hyungwon and the guy smiled when their eyes met - again. Hoseok felt like Hyungwon was doing it on purpose, maybe to confuse him.

"See you around," Hyungwon said and started walking away. Hoseok looked after him until he was gone and then continued to skateboard, even more ambition in his mind now after meeting his new idol.


	4. Chapter 4

Hoseok stopped by the store on his way to the skate park and bought three cans of energy drinks. He usually got them from the others so he thought that now it was his time to pay back.

He hadn't talked to Jooheon at school that day but when he got closer to the park, he almost wished to hear Jooheon's loud voice coming from there. The closer he got the more sure he was that the guy he was looking for wasn't there. He didn't see red hair or girl with a snapback on either. There were just some little kids playing around. One of them had a scooter and another one was with a skateboard. Hoseok was a bit disappointed but went there anyways.

He sat on the bench and opened one of the energy drink cans. He took a sip and smoked a cigarette while following what the kids were doing for a while, wondering why no one else had came yet. He knew Jooheon and Changkyun got off from the school same time as him.

After just sitting there for a few minutes, Hoseok threw the cigarette butt to the ground, left the can on the bench and started skating. The little kids looked a bit scared and seemed like they were admiring Hoseok's skills even though they were almost nonexistent yet. Hoseok seemed to fail every time he tried to do something new and more difficult but he kept trying. Now when the other guys weren't there yet, Hoseok could pretty comfortably do whatever he wanted to and didn't have to be afraid of what anyone would think.

The other kid with a scooter suddenly came in front of Hoseok, almost getting ran over by him. "Can you do a frontside ollie?" he asked with much confidence in his voice.

"Uhm..." Hoseok looked awkward because he sure didn't know how to do a frontside ollie, heck, he barely even managed to do a regular ollie. "I can't yet."

"My friend can," the kid said and Hoseok turned to look at the other kid with a skateboard. He looked pretty good for a that young guy. "Chan!" he yelled to get his friend's attention and the kid, whose name Hoseok now assumed to be Chan, came to where they were. "Show him your frontside ollie."

Hoseok looked with a glimpse of admiration in his eyes as the Chan kid did a frontside ollie. He felt like a noob again because he couldn't do that, not even near. "That was great," he said and continued to skate to the other way. Then he saw someone coming.

"Hi Hoseok," the guy greeted as he came closer. Hoseok raised his hand up to wave at him.

"Hyunwoo!" the other kid with a scooter yelled and ran to the bigger guy. Only now Hoseok noticed the similarity between them and started wondering if they were related.

"Hi Hyungsoo," Hyunwoo said and stopped next to the kid. "There is food home. Go and eat with Chan."

Hoseok watched as Chan and Hyungsoo left to the direction Hyunwoo has just came from. He grabbed his board and walked to the bench where Hyunwoo was. "Your brother?" he asked and took his energy drink to finish it.

"Yeah," Hyunwoo said simply. "If he ever bothers you just tell him that you will tell me and he will stop," he explained and Hoseok let out a small chuckle.

"Alright, I will," he said and threw the now empty energy can towards the trash can. "Why no one else is here?" he then asked and by the way Hyunwoo reacted, Hoseok thought he had just asked some really dumb question.

"It's gonna rain soon," Hyunwoo answered. "Don't you read weather forecasts?" he then scooted away to the ramps. Hoseok sat down to the bench next to him and remembered Jooheon and Changkyun talking about weather the day before. They when said that they wouldn't come when it rains.

Hyunwoo went around the park for a few times and then came to where Hoseok was. "I'm going home now," he said simply. "You should leave too so you will be home before it starts to rain," he continued and then left.

Hoseok looked after him for a while and let out a deep sigh. He didn't want to go home yet. He got up and continued skateboarding, not caring about that he would have to go home in a heavy rain. It was the first time in few days when he felt lonely again. It was also the first time he actually wished to see people. Even though he felt a bit like an outsider when he was with the others, he still wanted to hang with them.

He was going up the quarter pipe and tried to land on top of it but failed. His skateboard rolled back down and Hoseok ran after it. Someone else stopped the skateboard before he could. The black Adidas shoe didn't yet tell him anything. Hoseok slowly looked up and his eyes met Hyungwon's just like the day before.

"How do you always just suddenly appear from nowhere?" Hoseok groaned to cope with his surprise.

Hyungwon laughed. "What do you mean always," he picked up the board and gave it back to Hoseok.

"Why are you here?" Hoseok asked. "It's gonna rain soon."

"I could ask the same thing from you," Hyungwon said. He took a few running steps and went to the bench. He sat there and waited for Hoseok to follow. "I just happened to pass by and see you here."

Hoseok got there to sit next to him. "Hyunwoo was here just a moment ago," he said.

"Oh, he was? Damn, I would have wanted to see him," Hyungwon cursed quietly. "I got a friend who needs a new grips so I would have asked if he had any."

Hoseok was confused for a while but then realized it was something related to kickscooters. "Do you want a RedBull?" he then asked and opened his backpack to take out two energy drink cans. He couldn't have all of them alone - or actually he could but then he probably wouldn't sleep in a while - and Hyungwon was the only person he could share them with.

"Alright," Hyungwon took the can Hoseok was offering to him and opened it. Just as he was bringing the can to his lips, he suddenly stopped, looking at Hoseok's hands. "That's a nasty scar," he said with a grin and then took a sip of the energy drink. Hoseok looked at the side of his palm that had a pretty bad looking road rash.

"I fall a lot since I suck," he said with a shrug. He touched at the scar with his fingers. It still hurt a bit even though it was from the day before. Pain was never a big deal for Hoseok, you could say he had gotten used to it so it never stopped him from what he was doing.

"You don't suck," Hyungwon tried to encourage him with a smile. "I have seen you skate a bit. You're really good for a starter and I can tell you, one can never be a good skateboarder without falling at least a hundred times." Hoseok snorted because it seemed like a lie. "Looks like you're already close to being a master," Hyungwon joked, pointing at Hoseok's bloody knees that were showing because his jeans had ripped when he had fell.

"I can't even do an ollie without failing and falling down. I don't think that will make me any better," Hoseok shook his head and finished the energy drink already. He put it on the ground and stepped on top of it so it got pressed as a flat.

"It will. Trust me," Hyungwon assured with a raised eyebrow, trying to get Hoseok's unbelieving expression to change. "You got a lot of strength and passion."

Hoseok let out a dubious laugh again. He felt like Hyungwon was trying to mess with him. "What makes you think that?" he asked. He knew he was not a example of strength and passion. He was weak as heck and his only passion was dying.

"I see it in you," Hyungwon said and looked away to the remoteness. "If your self-esteem just wasn't that low, you would be achieving great things already," he continued, trying his best to sound supportive but it wasn't so much of his thing.

"Thanks," Hoseok muttered because he didn't know what to say. Just as he thought about getting up and continuing to skateboard for just a bit more, it started to rain heavily. "Shit," he cursed because now it meant he would have to go home in a rain - well he kind of had predicted that. The only person he could blame for that was himself for not leaving earlier.

"Shit," Hyungwon repeated after Hoseok. "Do you live far?" he asked and looked over Hoseok to the bike that was standing further. "You will have to bike home in a rain."

"It will only take me fifteen minutes," Hoseok said and stood up. His hoodie was already about to soak and his hair was losing it's usual, fluffy shape because it got wet.

"Let's go," Hyungwon grabbed him from his arm, wrapping his hand around Hoseok's bicep. Hoseok was a bit taken aback by this action. Hyungwon took his own skateboard on his free hand. "Try to keep up with me," he said and got on top of the skateboard. He let go of Hoseok's arm and started going away.

"Wait," Hoseok yelped and with a bit slow reaction, he followed Hyungwon, trying his best to catch him. Hyungwon looked over his shoulder to see if Hoseok was following him and flashed a smile. He kicked the ground for more speed. Hoseok was struggling to keep up. He had to keep his hand above his eyes to prevent water from going there but it didn't help much and he had to squint his eyes.

They arrived to Hyungwon's house only few minutes later. It was a big, fancy looking house and the dim lights that were pointing at it from the ground level made it seem even bigger. Hoseok looked at Hyungwon with a suspicious feeling. Hyungwon didn't seem like a rich kid and that made Hoseok wonder if this was even his house.

Hyungwon guided them to the backside of the house to the door that was below the normal ground level and seemed to lead to the basement floor. It made Hoseok's suspicious feeling grow even stronger. Hyungwon took a key from his pocket and opened the door. He let Hoseok go in first, then turned the lights on and closed the door behind them.

"The whole first floor is mine so I have my own private entrance," Hyungwon explained with a cool look on his face. He took his wet jacket off and put it to hang on the clothing rack next to them.

"Your room is so big," Hoseok said, his teeth clattering, making his speaking a bit unclear. He only had a hoodie on and because it was now soaking wet, he was shivering. Hyungwon noticed it and made him sit on the couch by his shoulders. He walked to other side of the room but Hoseok didn't follow him with his gaze because he was too busy looking around in the room.

Hyungwon had many skateboards that were broken into two pieces on his wall and Hoseok thought it looked cool. His room was a bit messy, there were some clothes on the floor along with books, papers and random things such as a laptop. Hoseok wondered if all the school stuff on the floor was a sign of that he was bad or good student.

"Here," Hyungwon said, waking Hoseok up from his thoughts. He looked up to see Hyungwon giving him a towel. He took it with a small thanks. "Dry your hair. I'm going to get you some other clothes." Hyungwon left and came back again, this time with a grey hoodie and grey sweatpants that were probably a set.

Hoseok took them but didn't start changing and was just keeping them on his lap. Hyungwon muttered a small _'oh'_ when he realized and turned away so his back was facing Hoseok. Trying to bite his teeth together hard so his jaw wouldn't tremble so much, Hoseok started to change his clothes. He dropped his hoodie to the floor with a splash.

"Hey!" he panicked when Hyungwon turned his head towards him, trying to see what he was doing. Hoseok tried to hide inside of the sweatshirt quickly so Hyungwon wouldn't see him. "Look away!" he was embarrassed and Hyungwon looked to the other way again.

Hoseok quickly changed his shirt and pants and told Hyungwon he was done. There were a while of awkward silence when they were both sitting on the cough, Hoseok still occasionally shivering and Hyungwon just going through his phone.

"Are all those yours?" Hoseok asked, pointing at the broken skateboards on the wall. It was an obvious question but he wanted to start a conversation somehow.

"Every single one," Hyungwon said confidently, studying the wall for a while before turning back to Hoseok.

"Looks like you have been skating for a long time," Hoseok muttered. Hyungwon was sitting really close to him and Hoseok wondered if it was because Hyungwon had noticed he was cold too or was he trying to do something. He didn't mind though.

"Not really that long... I was twelve when I started so only six years," Hyungwon answered and Hoseok quickly did some calculations in his head and then opened his mouth in surprise.

"You're eighteen?"

"Don't I look eighteen?"

"You do, it's just..." Hoseok felt weird. He hadn't really been thinking about how old Hyungwon was but he thought it would be even a year closer to his own age. "I'm sixteen."

"Well you would go for a eighteen-year-old," Hyungwon shrugged, examining Hoseok's face that still had few drops of water running along it from the wet hair. He pushed some of the hair off of Hoseok's forehead with a mesmerized look on his eyes. "Yeah, I would believe you were eighteen."

Hoseok shifted a bit uncomfortably. Hyungwon cleared his throat and stood up.

"I'm gonna go see if there is anything to eat and if the rain already stopped," he said and walked out of the room.

Hoseok exhaled deeply. He sat there for a while but then decided to walk around the room to see what there was. He was really curious about Hyungwon and wanted to find out what kind of a person he was. The desk next to a wall was filled with stuff and gave away that Hyungwon rarely did any work on it and just piled all his things on top of it. The situation was different in Hoseok's house because his mother was strict. Hoseok wasn't nosy so he didn't go through Hyungwon's stuff but just scanned the place.

Hyungwon came back carrying a glass filled with some red liquid - probably juice. "It has stopped raining for a while so you can go home if you want," he said and gave the juice to Hoseok who drank it and came to the conclusion that it indeed was juice - not that he had been suspicious at any point. "But I wouldn't mind if you stayed here."

"Sorry, I gotta go," Hoseok put the glass down on a small free spot he found from Hyungwon's desk. "I got school tomorrow," he said, looking like he didn't want to leave as well.

"Alright," Hyungwon sounded more disappointed than he was. "I hope I see you again later."

"Thanks," Hoseok smiled. "I will give you back your clothes when we do." He gathered his stuff and left. He skated back to the park, took his bike and went home. Just as he got to his room, it started to rain again.


	5. Chapter 5

It was Friday. The best day of the week. Beginning of the weekend. The day when even sitting in school felt less numbing because you knew that after just one more hour, you would be free. Hoseok liked Fridays too. His weekends were mostly just filled with sleeping and laying on the bed but he liked that. There was not a single person who hated Fridays.

"There is a party tonight," Kihyun said to Hoseok who was sitting on top of the ramp with him and Yoonsun. "You should come too."

"Me?" Hoseok was confused and tried to see if they were talking to him. "Oh, no. Parties are not really my thing."

"You will change your mind once you come to this one. Jooheon always throws good parties," Kihyun encouraged but Hoseok still seemed unsure. He had been at one party during his whole life and it hadn't been a pleasant memory. Being with tons of random, drunk people and loud music wasn't really what he liked. "I'll take you there if you don't know where he lives." Kihyun got down the ramp and stood at the bottom. Hoseok knew where Jooheon lived but he didn't want to go alone.

"Hey! What about me?" Yoonsun raised her voice at him and Kihyun tried to hold in his smile.

"You can walk. It's not that far," Kihyun tried but Yoonsun looked betrayed. She tried to kick him but Kihyun moved out the way fast. Then he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry Hoseok. I'll ask Ginger to go with you," he said after the girl was about to start threatening him.

"It's okay," Hoseok assured while Kihyun backed away to his moped. He got on top of it and said that he was gonna go to the store and get something from home. Then he put the helmet on and left.

"Oh, look, it's Lee Sang," Yoonsun said with a cheerful voice, looking at the boy and girl that arrived with a motorcycle the same time Kihyun left.

"Lee Sang? The guy who had dreads?" Hoseok asked but when the guy took his helmet off he noticed that it was the same one he just referred to.

"We don't talk about that phase," Yoonsun whispered, leaning closer to Hoseok's ear. Lee Sang put his helmet to the ground. The girl that was driving the moped took hers off too. She had long hair and looked really beautiful even though she didn't have any makeup on.

"Who's the girl?" Hoseok asked when she sat on the bench that was pretty far from where Hoseok and Yoonsun were sitting. Lee Sang took a skateboard from behind his back and started to skate.

"Jennie," Yoonsun said simply.

"Gunhee's girlfriend?" Hoseok raised his brows. Gunhee had seemed to be so protective about the Jennie girl that Hoseok wondered how could she be here with some other random guy.

"She is not his girlfriend anymore," Yoonsun explained, keeping her voice low enough so Jennie couldn't hear them.

"Then why-"

"Well she was the one to break up with him and obviously Gunhee wants her back. Gun is crazy, that's all I need to say," she said before Hoseok could even finish his question.

"If he still loves her then why did she break up with him?" Hoseok felt like he was asking too much but Yoonsun seemed like she didn't mind sharing all the secrets. Hoseok was beginning to like her more.

"The thing is that Gunhee doesn't know how to love right. Jennie broke up with him because he was abusive, controlling, cheated on her and rumors say he also raped her, maybe even more than once," Yoonsun finished and Hoseok almost let out a gasp because that sounded like a really tragic backstory.

"So is she with Lee Sang now?"

"Yes. Lee Sang is good and treats her well," Yoonsun got a small smile on her face. She was happy for Jennie too. "But you better not let Gunhee know that. Sang is too cute to get his ass beat," her tone suddenly changed to more serious and she spoke quickly.

"I won't," Hoseok assured.

"I think she knows we talked about her," Yoonsun muttered, looking at Jennie's direction again. "Hey Jennie! Come here!" The long haired girl got up and walked up to them. She greeted Hoseok with happy and more girly tone than what Yoonsun had.

"Are you coming to Jooheon's party tonight?" Hoseok asked her.

"Duh," she snorted, letting out a small laugh. "Everybody is coming to Jooheon's party."

Hoseok then talked a lot with Jennie and she seemed really nice, just like Yoonsun. He showed his amazing skateboarding skills to her and she laughed. Yoonsun and Lee Sang were showing more professional skating and Hoseok and Jennie both admired it. Kihyun came back from the store and gave cokes to everyone, making Hoseok and Yoonsun, disappointed.

"It's all for your own good," Kihyun said and messed up Yoonsun's short hair. The girl looked like he wanted to punch someone - that someone being Kihyun. Soon there was a small _ouch_ and Kihyun was holding his stomach.

"Is Gingerboy actually a ginger or does he dye his hair?" Hoseok asked when they were all sitting on top of the ramp expect for Lee Sang, who apparently was more interested in skateboarding than socializing.

They all laughed. Jennie was just slapping her thigh because she was laughing so hard no sound was coming out anymore. Hoseok wondered what was so funny because he hadn't intended to be humorous.

"What?" he asked. "I really want to know."

"We don't know either," Kihyun said because he was the first one to gather himself.

"I think he is though. He has freckles too," Yoonsun wondered and the others seemed to be trying to figure out if that was right. "But he can just paint them to fool us..."

"Gingerboy is so weird. We don't even know his name," Jennie said. Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows because he was surprised that none of them knew what Gingerboy's name was. "He is more mysterious than Hyungwon."

"Is Hyungwon mysterious?" Hoseok was just full of questions. Based on what he had witnessed, Hyungwon seemed quite normal.

"Well if I think about it, we know his name and hair color so..."

"But what if we're all wrong?"

"Hyungwon is seriously mysterious. He doesn't talk about his life to anyone, he just comes and goes and doesn't care about anything or anyone," Yoonsun said, trying to figure out what exactly were the things that made Hyungwon so mysterious. "I heard he once stabbed someone," she lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Now when I think about it, I don't even know where he lives," Kihyun wondered.

"Do you know where Gingerboy lives then?"

"No..."

"I know where both of them live," Jennie commented.

"I know where Hyungwon lives," Hoseok said and the three of them turned to look at him.

"How?" Yoonsun asked.

"I was there yesterday."

"Hold on."

"You were at Hyungwon's house?"

"Yeah..." Hoseok didn't know why they reacted like it was a big deal. "It was raining so he took me there and gave me dry clothes."

Jennie looked impressed.

"Oh shit," Yoonsun gasped. "You know what I have always had a feeling that Hyungwon is a player. Mysterious fuckboy."

"Fuckboy? No way," Kihyun laughed.

"Well he kissed me once at a party," Yoonsun started and was about to continue when Kihyun interrupted her.

"Everyone kissed you at that party."

"Shut up. He has also kissed Ginger and Hyunwoo and I heard he fucked that girl from my class twice but never talked to her after that."

"Everybody does shit like that when they're drunk or messed up in some other way," Jennie sighed. It looked like no one was believing Yoonsun's theory. "Hyungwon is the kind of person who will turn you the other cheek after you hit him."

"Wait? Gingerboy and Hyunwoo?" Hoseok asked after realizing what Yoonsun had said. "Is Hyungwon gay?"

"I don't know", Kihyun said simply. "He is mysterious. Because he doesn't care about anything or anyone, he is not afraid so he just does what he does. Even if it was boys or girls."

"I think he is bi..." Yoonsun muttered. "Look, all I'm saying is that Hoseok better watch out because it looks like Hyungwon is trying to get closer to him."

"I'm not... like that," Hoseok muttered and he felt really uncomfortable because it seemed like Yoonsun was trying to imply that Hyungwon was hitting on Hoseok. "Oh, look it's Gallagher," he took his backpack and got down the ramp to where Gingerboy was walking to.

"What's up, Ho'," Ginger greeted him and nodded his head upwards. Apparently he already gave Hoseok a nickname. "You coming?" he asked the others who were still sitting on top of the ramp.

"You go ahead since you're walking," Kihyun said. "We will be there later."

"A'ight," Gingerboy took two cigarettes from his pocket and gave one to Hoseok. He lit up his own one first and then gave the lighter to Hoseok. They started walking towards Jooheon's house.

-

Jooheon stood on the doorway with a expressionless face and arms crossed on top of his chest. He looked like a porter and Hoseok thought if he should leave and not go to the party. Gingerboy took a twenty thousand won bill from his pocket and gave it to Jooheon whose expression then softened and he let them in.

"Wait, you need to pay to get in?" Hoseok asked when he followed Gingerboy inside the house.

"No we don't," Ginger let out a laugh. He had to talk a bit louder because the music inside was loud. The heavy bass made the walls shake a bit. "Others pay but we're his good friends so we get in free."

"Then why you gave him money."

"My alcohol supplier is on a holiday so I asked Jooheon to get me some," he explained and Hoseok nodded as  sign that he understood but Gingerboy continued anyways. "Jooheon's guy had much higher fee but what can I do," he shrugged and led Hoseok to the kitchen where Ginger's alcohol was waiting for him. He took two plastic cups and started to make some kind of cocktails, pouring the clear vodka and Red Bull on them. He offered one of them to Hoseok.

"Uhm... No thanks," Hoseok muttered but Gallagher just put the cup to his hand.

"Take it. I know you don't have drinks on your own anyways," he said and started to lead Hoseok towards the living room where there were many people. Hoseok didn't know almost any of them. The faces were familiar but he didn't know them. They went to sit on the couch where Hyunwoo and Changkyun were. They made room for the two. Ginger sat on the armrest and Hoseok between him and Changkyun

He brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. There was a familiar taste of energy drink, mixed with the burning sensation of alcohol. He really appreciated Ginger's taste - they both were Red Bull enthusiasts. Hyunwoo and Changkyun were talking about some girl who was on the other side of the room with her friends. Hoseok couldn't hear much but apparently it was someone Jooheon had been trying to hit on.

Jooheon came with Kihyun and Yoonsun few moments later, carrying two plastic cups with him. He gave one of them to Changkyun.

"It's still kind of lame here but just wait until everyone gets drunk enough," Yoonsun said to Hoseok. She was worried that he wouldn't like the party since he was not really up for going there in the first place. Hoseok just nodded and drank the rest of his drink. He hadn't drank that much in his life but he believed that he had a high tolerance, unlike Gingerboy, whose cheeks were already red.

"Hey! It's not lame!" Jooheon said quickly. The music changed to some trap song from the newest Gucci Mane album. At least the music was good and many people seemed to be enjoying it. Changkyun pulled him down and Jooheon sat on top of his and Hoseok's knees.

"Me and Hoseok think this party needs some action," Changkyun said to him. "Go hit on that girl of yours."

Jooheon laughed and stood up. "Later," he said, eyeing the girl at the back a little.

Gallagher went to get more alcohol for him and Hoseok. Jennie and Lee Sang arrived there and the girl took Ginger's place, earning some mean words from the red haired guy when he came back.

They were talking about some girl Jooheon had fucked at his previous party a month ago. The girl wasn't there now and Hyunwoo said it was not a wonder. Everybody was making fun of Jooheon again but he didn't seem to mind. Hoseok was beginning to enjoy it too. He wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol.

"Oh shit, look who is here," Gingerboy cursed and everybody's attention suddenly turned from Jooheon to him.

"Fucking Gunhee," Jooheon muttered but when he turned around, it was not Gunhee approaching them but Minhyuk and Byungchul. "Oh hell nah," he said with a loud voice as if the two was even worse than Gunhee.

"What the fuck, Jooheon," Minhyuk yelled when he came to them. "Where was our invite?"

"It looks like you invited yourselves anyways," Jooheon said and gritted his teeth. "Pay and you can stay."

"Seriously, Jooheon?" Ginger snapped. "Don't let these two retards ruin the party..."

Minhyuk and Byungchul both gave Jooheon money, giving a dirty look to Hoseok as they did so. They seemed to be really pleased with themselves. Hoseok felt anxious.

"Go to stand somewhere else," Jooheon said after getting the money. "We don't need your negative energy here with us."

"Hoseok, you're coming with us then," Byungchul said and reached out to grab Hoseok by his shirt and pull him up from the couch. Hoseok didn't want to let Byungchul bounce him around but because he was small and Byungchul was big, there was nothing he could do.

Gingerboy moved in front of him fast. "D'you want to get hit too?" he asked but Byungchul's face didn't even move.

"Relax, shortie, I'm just taking our friend with us," Byungchul said with a calm yet strict voice.

"He's still not your friend," Gingerboy said, clenching his jaw and squeezing his fist together.

"Leave it be, Gallagher," Hoseok said with a sigh. Then he went to the other side of the room with Minhyuk and Byungchul. Both of the guys seemed to be really pleased with themselves.

Gingerboy sat back down and tried to calm himself down. He couldn't understand why Minhyuk and Byungchul were so obsessed with Hoseok and he also couldn't understand why Hoseok let them be like that and was willing to hang out with them.

"I hate that Ginger," Minhyuk muttered, leaning against the wall and opened the long drink he had stolen from the kitchen table where all the drinks were.

"He is nice when you get to know him," Hoseok said. He regretted giving himself up to Byungchul and Minhyuk a bit because he would have rather be with the others. He couldn't stand up against them, though. He knew that they could destroy his life if they wanted to - they had done it before to Hoseok's ex-classmate.

"Shut up," Byungchul said, eyeing at the group who had started to talk with each other again, acting like nothing happened. "Why do you hang with them at the park anyways? It's not like you suddenly learned to skate or anything."

"I'm trying to learn.."

"Just make sure your mom doesn't call us again next time when you have locked yourself to your room for weeks," he leaned closer to Hoseok to say that and then left with Minhyuk to some girls.

"Why are you talking to trash?" someone suddenly said from behind Hoseok. He turned to look at the way where the voice came from and saw Hyungwon standing next to him with a smug smile on his face.

"Hi," Hoseok greeted him, trying to brighten up a little even though Byungchul and Minhyk somehow always managed to get his mood down.

"You know you left your clothes back at my place," Hyungwon said and Hoseok felt some innuendo in his voice. Hoseok started to think about what Yoonsun had said at the park.

"Right," he had indeed been missing his clothes but had been waiting for Hyungwon to talk to him first. He drank the rest of his vodka-Red Bull-cocktail and set the cup on the table next to them. He had a lot of alcohol in his veins already but didn't seem all that drunk - it was because of the caffeine that was hiding the effects of alcohol.

"Want to go out so we can talk or something?" Hyungwon asked. It was annoying having to talk so loud because of the music. Hoseok followed him outside.

"I'm not sure if I should be worried for Hoseok," said Yoonsun, who had been the only one to notice that, but no one listened to her.


	6. Chapter 6

Hyungwon led them to Jooheon's backyard and they sat on top of a garden bench. They couldn't hear the music that much anymore, only the beat of the music. Hyungwon took a small speaker from his backpack. He connected his phone to it and slow, relaxing Post Malone song started playing.

"You don't like the party?" Hoseok asked since it was kind of weird that Hyungwon wanted to go somewhere else as soon as he arrived.

"It's fine," Hyungwon said, putting his drink on the table next to the speaker that just changed to some other song. "I just don't feel like being in there right now."

"Oh..."

"You don't seem like that type of a guy either," he turned to Hoseok and they had that eye contact again.

"What type?"

"Who likes to party. Like the others."

"Yeah, I have never really been to parties before," Hoseok muttered, wishing he would still have something to drink.

"Really?"

Hoseok nodded and started digging his pockets. He took out a cigarette pack - he had bought it from Gingerboy earlier - and took one cigarette. Usually he stole cigarettes from his dad who never noticed but now Ginger, who seemed to always have cigarettes with him, offered to be his new dealer. Luckily he had something else but the menthol ones too because Hoseok would rather have other things.

"You can have the first one for free," Gingerboy had said but Hoseok had insisted to pay. Ginger always talked about how everyone else was so kind but in reality he was also one of the kind ones as well. Hoseok didn't know where the redhead had gotten them if his supplier was on a holiday like he had said. Maybe he just had a lot of them at home.

"That's a really bad habit," Hyungwon said, looking at Hoseok's cigarette with a doubt. "Give me one too."

Hoseok put a hand inside his pocket again and took out one more cigarette to give it to Hyungwon. There was a small silence. Then Hoseok let out a puff of smoke in the air and spoke: "Why do you smoke if you know it's a bad habit?"

"Everybody who smokes knows it's bad. You know it too," Hyungwon was looking somewhere afar as he talked but Hoseok had eyes fixed at him. "It's weird how we are so attached to things that are killing us."

"That sound so philosophical," Hoseok snorted. He looked ahead and saw a couple coming out of the house. Lee Sang, who was helping Jennie to stay up, made the girl sit on the porch. She seemed to be really drunk and Lee Sang was trying to calm down the crying girl.

"That girl is so strong," Hyungwon muttered and looked away, bringing the cigarette to his lips. "I'm glad she has Sang."

"He seems like a really good guy," Hoseok said, still looking at the couple on the porch.

"He is. Doesn't talk a lot though."

After a while, Lee Sang helped Jennie to walk to the motorcycle. He made her sit on the front and came behind her, putting another hand around her to keep her still while he started the vehicle. Then they left.

There was silent again, only the fading sound of the motorcycle as the drove away. Hoseok felt dizzy. He realized that he had probably drank a lot and started to wonder if that crying stage would hit him soon too. He had never really been properly drunk before. Sure he had drank alcohol but only a little bit except for that one time when he took sleeping medicine and some strong liquor, only to wake up in a hospital the next day. He had been almost sent to a psych ward because the doctors were convinced he had been trying to kill himself.

Hoseok felt that Hyungwon had been staring at him for a while already. He turned to look at him and saw the guy leaning closer to him. Even though he was drunk, he quickly realized what was about to happen and pulled further away from Hyungwon before he could could kiss him. He sat awkwardly there, looking to everywhere else but at Hyungwon with a two feet distance between them.

Hoseok heard the other guy clear his throat. He peeked from the corner of his eye and saw Hyungwon throw what was left from the cigarette to the ground, stand up and leave. With his hands in his pockets, Hyungwon walked back inside the house.

Hoseok didn't know he had been holding his breath before he exhaled deeply. He wasn't sure how to feel about what had just almost happened.

He waited for fifteen minutes and then went in himself too. He found his way to the kitchen and wondered which of the alcohol was Gingerboy's. He just did what Ginger had done before and mixed Red Bull with vodka to a cup. He poured some of it down his throat and then headed to the main room where all the others were.

He sat next to Hyunwoo who was apparently not participating on the thing that was going on. Hoseok didn't know what exactly was happening but it looked wild. To make it short, Jooheon apparently managed to hit on the girl he was supposed to, Changkyun was filming them, Yoonsun was showing awesome freestyle dance with some guy. Gingerboy, who was passed out in one corner, looked like he had been hit. Minhyuk, who was sitting with Byungchul in the other side of the room, looked ten times worse than the red haired guy.

"Is Hyungwon not here anymore?" Hoseok asked after scanning the room for a while without noticing the guy.

"He came in here a while ago and left," Hyunwoo told him. Hoseok noticed that he had a bruise forming in one eye and he wondered it Hyunwoo had been the guy to break the fight between Minhyuk and Gingerboy. He was like a peacekeeper. "I don't know if something was up with him, he was gone before anyone could ask."

Hoseok didn't say anything. He drank the alcohol he had left and then let out a groan. He felt really sleepy which was weird because he had drank enough energy drink to stay up for two days. His vision was blurry and everything seemed to be going slow. It was hard to speak and move his body well. "Do you think I can sleep in Jooheon's room?" he asked.

"Sure," Hyunwoo said. "It's upstairs. Take Gingerboy with you," he pointed at the stairs and then at the small, passed out guy.

Hoseok got up and walked to Ginger. He put the guy's arm around his shoulders and started dragging him across the room and up the stairs. He had difficulties staying on his feet so carrying someone made it extra hard but luckily Gingerboy was really small. He managed to get all the way up with the help of the handrail. When he got to the room, he threw Gingerboy on the other end of Jooheon's regular sized bed and went to the other end himself. He fell asleep almost immediately.

-

When Hoseok woke up the next morning, Gingerboy was not sleeping next to his feet anymore. Instead there was some girl he didn't know basically on top of him. He moved the random girl a little so he could get off from under her. When he stood up, he immediately felt sick. He put a hand in front of his mouth and rushed to the bathroom to throw up.

After emptying his guts, Hoseok felt much better. He washed his face and started heading downstairs to see if anyone else was here. Changkyun and Jooheon were both sleeping on the couch. Two girls and a guy Hoseok didn't know slept on the rug of the living room.

He went to the kitchen and saw a familiar red hair leaning on the counter with a glass of water in his hand. His face now looked much worse than the night before. He had a small cut on top of his eyebrow and there was a bruise on his jaw.

"Morning," Gingerboy muttered. He turned around and took a new class from the counter. He filled it with water and gave it to Hoseok.

"Thanks," Hoseok said and drank all the water at once. He was really thirsty. "Who the hell was that girl?" he asked when he suddenly remembered the girl in the bed with him.

"I dunno either. You gotta ask Jooheon," Ginger answered, filling his glass with water again. "What happened yesterday? I was so drunk I don't remember a thing."

"Uhm..." Hoseok wasn't quite sure about what went down between Gallagher and Minhyuk either because he had been outside. "You had a fight with Minhyuk," Hoseok said. Just then Hyunwoo came to the kitchen from the other way. His black eye looked bad.

"Oh shit," Gingerboy whispered and put his glass down on the counter. "Did I hit you?" he asked because he immediately realized no one else who was in the house yesterday was violent enough to hit Hyunwoo.

"It's okay, Ginger. I know you didn't do it on purpose," Hyunwoo said calmly. He wasn't mad at all even though he had that ugly bruise decorating his face.

"Hyunwoo I'm really sorry," Gingerboy looked like he was about to cry. "I haven't taken my meds because I just feel like they're not helping at all."

"I said it's okay," Hyunwoo came closer to Ginger and messed up his hair with a small smile on his lips in a brotherly way. "You really should take your medication though," he gave Gingerboy the kindest look ever and Ginger looked back at him like a sad puppy. Hyunwoo patted his shoulder and then left.

Hoseok was quiet for a while. He felt bad for Gingerboy. "Do you want to do something today?" he asked.

"Sorry Hoseok but I gotta go home," Ginger sounded apologetic. "Maybe I will see you at the park later?" he continued. Hoseok nodded and then the redhead left to the same direction Hyunwoo had just went.

Hoseok sat on top of the counter, waiting for someone else to come. He wondered if he should go home too but he really didn't want to. Usually he didn't want to leave home but now he didn't want to go back there. He just wanted to hang out with somebody.

"Hi Hoseok," Jooheon came to the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Hoseok asked, following as Jooheon took pain medicine from the drawer. He took two pills swallowed one of them himself - the other was probably for Changkyun.

"I gotta clean this place up and act like a good kid when my parents come home in few hours," Jooheon said. He knew Hoseok would have wanted to do something with him so he kind of regretted saying that.

"What about Changkyun?"

"He is going to his dad's today," he explained. Changkyun lived with his mother but visited his dad, who was a two-hour drive away, every two weeks.

Jooheon went back to the living room with the medicine and a glass of water. Hoseok left after a while too and headed towards the skate park.

Hoseok wondered if Hyungwon would answer to him. Then he remembered the almost kiss that had happened and realized that he wasn't sure if he wanted to see Hyungwon at all. The whole thing was making his head a mess. He had heard that Hyungwon was the type of a guy who thought he could have whoever he wanted to. Hoseok wasn't even sure if he was interested yet.

Yes, he was gay, or at least that was how he explained his many crushes on random guys. He had been interested in girls too but still it was mostly guys he looked at in that way. No one knew about it and he had only jokingly been called a fag by Minhyuk or Byungchul. He knew most of the people his age didn't care about things like sexuality but he was still afraid.

Hoseok arrived to the skate park and luckily someone was there. Jennie was sitting on the bench, playing with her phone while Lee Sang was skateboarding. He reached the top of a ramp and grabbed the bottom of his skateboard before turning and going back down the ramp.

Hoseok took his skateboard and took a few running steps with it in his hand before stepping on it and skating towards the ramps. He threw his backpack next to the bench Jennie was sitting in and gave her a short greeting.

"Did you like the party yesterday?" Jennie asked, having to raise her voice because Hoseok was going far already.

Hoseok turned around with a few quick moves. "It was fun," he said even though he wasn't sure if that was how he felt about the party.

"What did you do with Hyungwon? I saw you going out with him," she asked next and Hoseok's eyes widened. He wondered if anyone else had noticed. Jennie was the first one to ask. "Or actually Sang saw you. I was too drunk by then to notice."

"We just talked outside," Hoseok shrugged. For some reason he didn't have any difficulties trusting Jennie - or pretty much everyone else at the park - even though he only met her the day before.

"I wonder if he will come here today," Jennie sighed and leaned back on the bench to meet the backrest.

"Why would he," Hoseok asked, turning around again when he came to the other end. He felt restless so he was just going back and forth.

"Based on what Yoonsun said and everything, he is totally interested in you," Jennie said simply and Hoseok gave her a weird look. He didn't understand why girls were always like that. They noticed everything and both Jennie and Yoonsun weren't afraid to say what they thought. "Look, I'm not calling you gay, I'm just saying he thinks he can change that if he wants."

Hoseok didn't comment anything about that and just continued his way further away from Jennie.

"You're so handsome it's no wonder..." Jennie muttered and Lee Sang turned to look at her with serious eyes. "What? You can't deny it." Sang came to her and sat next to her. "Tell me what you thing about this?"

"About what?" Sang asked with a confused voice. That was the first time Hoseok heard him talk.

"Hoseok is totally Hyungwon's type, right?"

"Hyungwon doesn't have a type," Lee Sang said awkwardly. "He just does what he does."

Jennie sighed and looked away from him to Hoseok who was skating towards the rail. He jumped on top of it and somehow managed to land on it with the board but lost his balance immediately and fell back to the ground. He took a step back to stay on his feet. Then he caught his skateboard.

"I don't really care about Hyungwon. He is two years older than me and all," he said and then jumped in top of his board again.

"Well..." Jennie shrugged without continuing to argue with Hoseok for any longer.


	7. Chapter 7

Unlike Jen predicted, Hyungwon didn't come. Hoseok was at the park every day as soon as school ended and didn't leave back home until it was dark and he was alone. It was the next Friday and Hoseok was at the park alone with Jooheon. Yoonsun had been there for a while too but then Kihyun came to get her and they left together.

"Did you pass geography?" Jooheon asked from Hoseok. They had gotten the exam from the Monday week before back. Teacher had been disappointed and scolded the whole class because four students had failed.

"Yeah. Barely," Hoseok said. He wasn't happy with the grade he got but it was better than failing completely.

"Shit... I didn't," Jooheon cursed and looked away. He was sitting on top of his BMX and following as Hoseok tried to do ollie. It had been more than a week and he was still battling with it. He had managed to do it only few times and he felt a bit frustrated already - he wouldn't give up though. "Changkyun got the best grade of his class."

"Really?" Hoseok was adjusting his feet on top of the board to try again.

"He is a nerd," Jooheon said and looked around to see if Changkyun happened to be coming. Changkyun knew he was a nerd, he was almost the only one at the park who actually cared about school. Hyunwoo was pretty good at school too because he wanted to be a lawyer and needed good grades to get to the best law school.

"Maybe he should tutor both of us," Hoseok suggested. He tried to do the ollie again but his skateboard wouldn't even come up from the ground properly.

"You know maybe you should try something else," Jooheon said after Hoseok had let out a frustrated groan.

"Like what?" Hoseok sighed and sat down on top of the funbox behind him.

"Take speed from there-" Jooheon pointed at the another ramp. "- and try to jump on top of this," he pointed at the funbox Hoseok was sitting at.

"How do you expect me to do that? I can't even ollie," Hoseok sounded annoyed. Even though it was fun, practicing the same thing over and over again without any progress was getting on his nerves.

"At least based on my experience it's easier with speed," Jooheon said. He put his feet on the pedals and turned his bike around. "Look. And move out of the way."

He cycled to the other side. Hoseok got up to watch as Jooheon started coming towards the funbox, stood on the pedals and when he came close enough, pulled his BMX up to jump on top of the box with both wheels.

"Alright, I'll try," Hoseok got on top of his skateboard and went to the same way Jooheon just had. He kicked the ground a few times for speed and then adjusted his feet on the board to prepare as he got closer to the box. He didn't believe he could do it at any point while getting ready to jump which was part of the reason he didn't make it.

"Fuck, you good?" Jooheon asked when Hoseok got himself up from the ground. He had failed badly and hit the edge of the box which had caused him to fall on the ground pretty hard.

"I'm good," Hoseok muttered and wiped his jeans. Some blood came to them from his other hand. This time not even his hoodie could protect him. The sleeve of his another arm rolled up when he came in contact with the ground, allowing almost his whole arm to drag against the asphalt. His knee was not that lucky either, it had been suffering a lot lately.

Hoseok pulled his sleeve down, not even taking a look at his arm that burned badly, especially when it touched the fabric. He took his skateboard and went to the bench. He took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket - he had bought more from Gingerboy few days before - and lit one up. He let smoke escape from his mouth and looked over his shoulder when he heard someone coming. It was the ginger, being in a puff of smoke himself too, walking fast towards them.

"Wassup Gallagher," Hoseok greeted him like he did every day. For some reason he was already assimilating with Gingerboy's accent after being around him so much. Ginger came to sit next to him. He threw the cigarette to the ground and then his eyes wandered to Hoseok.

"What happened to you?" he asked after noticing that Hoseok had blood on his jeans and coming through his grey hoodie too. It wasn't even his own hoodie but Hyungwon's. Hyungwon had never asked it back so Hoseok thought he could wear it until Hyungwon would show up. "You fell?"

"That's what happens when you listen to Jooheon's advice," Hoseok laughed and Jooheon luckily didn't hear it - or at least he didn't react in any way.

"You should get it cleaned up," Gingerboy said. "I once had road rash that got infected and it was not pretty."

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"Okay then..." his voice faded away. After only second of calm, he started going through his pockets and took out a cigarette. He put it to his lips and lit up a lighter.

"Are you chain smoking?" Hoseok asked when he realized that Ginger just threw away a cigarette a moment ago. He turned to look at the redhead and noticed that the corner of his lip was bleeding. "Did you fight?"

Gingerboy shook his head while lighting up his cigarette. After he was done, he took it from his lips and bluntly spoke: "No. It's just my foster dad."

"Foster dad?" Hoseok asked, a bit confused. He didn't know Gallagher was a foster kid. Or actually he didn't know much anything else about Ginger either but he had just never thought about him being a foster child before.

"I was playing in my room and forgot to do the dishes. And probably some other shit too, I don't know. I just left quickly," Ginger explained with zero emotion in his voice. Hoseok felt like he shouldn't have asked.

"Does he hit you often?" Hoseok was still looking at him but he was just staring somewhere else.

"Not that much when he is sober but sometimes," Ginger stood up and took his skateboard. He threw the cigarette to the ground next to the other one. "Don't worry Ho', I'll be fine. It was my fault anyways," he finished and started skateboarding to where Jooheon also was.

Hoseok sighed and leaned back on the bench. He felt bad for Gingerboy but also knew that his family issues were none of Hoseok's business. He put his hand on top of the injured arm and felt the blood coming through his hoodie. He shivered and decided that he needed to skateboard again as soon as possible or he would get anxious about skating because of the fall. He kicked his board to the ground and got it to move, curving to avoid going to the ramp where Jooheon was heading.

-

Yoonsun and Kihyun came back an hour later and Changkyun had found his way to the park too which Hoseok was glad about because he gave much better advice than Jooheon had.

"Never listen to Jooheon," Changkyun said, moving his skateboard back and forth with one feet while talking to Hoseok. "He doesn't know shit." Jooheon showed him a middle finger and stared going to the other way with his BMX, not wanting to hear any more about Changkyun dissing him.

"I was a bit suspicios about him in the first place," Hoseok said with a smile and looked at Jooheon who apparently was still able to heard it because he glanced at Hoseok.

"He once made Kihyun's arm to break after trying to teach him to skate," Changkyun laughed and they both turned to look at Kihyun sitting at the bench with Yoonsun.

"Really?" Hoseok snorted. He thought Kihyun would be wise enough to not listen to Jooheon.

"It's true," Gingerboy stopped next to them. "His bone was showing but Jooheon was just like 'It's just a bruise, go get the board'."

"It's the only time we have seen Kihyun cry," Changkyun said, lowering his voice a bit even though there was no change Kihyun would hear them. Hoseok glanced at Kihyun again and saw someone approaching.

"Hyungwon," he simply let out, not meaning to say it out loud. Changkyun and Ginger turned to look at the guy skating towards the park. Hoseok suddenly felt anxious and excited at the same time. He sat on the box next to them and took out his phone to take his attention away from Hyungwon.

"You're here a lot recently," Changkyun said when Hyungwon came to them. Hoseok raised his head a bit and his eyes met Hyungwon's. Hyungwon had traces of fighting on his face - some old and few recent ones. He didn't look away but Hoseok turned back to his phone quickly.

"I wonder why," Gingerboy muttered and skated away to the other ramp with a flat where Jooheon was doing some tricks. Hyungwon kicked his skateboard up to his hand and sat next to Hoseok.

"Is that my hoodie?" Hyungwon asked when he noticed the grey hoodie with blood stains on the sleeve.

"Uhm..." Hoseok muttered, realizing how weird it must seem that he was wearing it. Changkyun left to the bench and sat next to Kihyun.

"It's okay," Hyungwon laughed. "You can have it if you like it."

Hoseok wanted to say that he didn't have any feelings towards the hoodie and that he would bring it to Hyungwon later but couldn't get it to come out.

"Are you going somewhere today?" Hyungwon asked. He sounded really normal and Hoseok wondered if he remembered that something happened - or almost happened - between them just a week before.

"No."

"Do want to come to my place?"

"What?"

"I'm home alone with my brother and I don't really want to deal with his ass alone," Hyungwon explained with a small smile. He was staring at Hoseok again and Hoseok tried his best to not turn to look at him.

"Well," Hoseok wasn't sure what to say. He was really bad at saying no and that was why he always agreed to everything. "Okay."

"Great," Hyungwon said and finally looked away. "Oh shit, Gunhee is coming."

Hoseok turned to look at the direction where the said guy was approaching with a longboard. He curved to where Hyungwon and Hoseok was. He had a burning joint on his hand and Hoseok recognized the smell of weed he had already recognized after that one time. Gunhee nodded his head up to Hyungwon who silently got up and started walking away. Gunhee followed him all the way to the dumpsters at the other end of the park until Hyungwon stopped.

Ginger came to Hoseok and sat where Hyungwon had just been. "I wonder what's up with those two," he said.

"Yeah," Hoseok muttered and put his phone away, keeping his eyes on Hyungwon and Gunhee who seemed to be talking about something.

"Also what's up with you and Hyungwon?" Ginger asked. While watching Hoseok's and Hyungwon's conversation from afar, he had gotten really curious.

"What do you mean? Why would something be up with me and Hyungwon?"

"'Cuz he's so nice to you and I've never seen him be like that to anyone else," Gingerboy was staring at Hoseok to get information out of him.

Hoseok saw Changkyun going to Hyungwon and Gunhee. He was annoyed that he couldn't hear what they were talking about because it seemed serious. Jooheon came to him and Gingerboy. He sat on top of his bike and leaned his elbows against the handles.

"Something is going on between those three," he sighed, seeming to be even more annoyed than Hoseok that he didn't know what it was about. "Maybe it's about Yongguk."

"Yongguk?" Hoseok repeated.

"Yeah. He is Hyungwon's brother and also has some shit going on with Gunhee," Jooheon explained, looking at the three who were still talking.

"Yongguk is his brother?" Hoseok raised his eyebrows. Yongguk used to be underground rapper a year or two back but then he quit after scandals or something and no one knew what happened to him.

"Adopted, I guess. Chae family took custody of him after his parents died or something," Jooheon said. "He used to be good friends with Gunhee but then something happened between them too," he turned his bike around. "I'm gonna go and ask Changkyun if he wants to come to the store with me."

"I can come with you," Gingerboy tried but Jooheon was already going to the other way.

Jooheon and Changkyun left together. After a while Gunhee walked away too, looking bitterly displeased. Hyungwon in the other hand didn't have any expression on his face while he walked back to Hoseok. He gestured Gingerboy to move so he could sit between them. The red haired guy was not happy that someone told him to do something but this made his feeling about the fact that something was going on between Hoseok and Hyungwon grow even stronger.

"Do you want to go now?" Hyungwon asked from Hoseok. It was getting pretty late already and if it wasn't Friday, most of them would be home already.

"Sure," Hoseok got up and took his skateboard. He saw Yoonsun, who had been sitting on the bench with Kihyun the whole time, starting to skate. Kihyun went to his motorcycle. It looked like they were about to leave and that Yoonsun just wanted to go around for a second before going.

"Wait, where're you goin'?" Ginger asked quickly, stopping them from leaving.

"To my place," Hyungwon answered to him before Hoseok had a change to say anything.

"What?" the ginger one was confused first but then turned to look sad. "You're gonna leave me alone here?" he pouted. Hoseok felt bad for him again. It seemed like he really didn't want to go back home.

"Sorry, Gallagher," Hoseok said, giving the younger a sympathetic look. "You should go home too."

Gingerboy wasn't going to admit that he didn't want to go there. It wasn't that he was afraid of going home, he just hated it - his foster home and foster parents. After the others went left, he would stay at the park for an hour more before going home and sneaking back in so everyone would be asleep and he couldn't be scolded about being late.

Hoseok and Hyungwon started walking - no, skating - away towards where Hyungwon lived. Hoseok had a bit troubles keeping up with Hyungwon again even though this time there was no rain rushing them. He almost ran into a woman with a dog while trying to stay next to Hyungwon and had to step off of his board to avoid it. Hyungwon looked over his shoulder to see if Hoseok would manage and slowed down a bit to wait him.

They arrived to Hyungwon's house and went in from the back door that took them straight to Hyungwon's floor.

"Yongguk!" Hyungwon shouted loudly and Hoseok flinched because he wasn't prepared for a yell. Hyungwon usually spoke very softly so it was a huge change. There was no answer to his call. "My brother is upstairs. I should probably let him know I have someone over."

He started to walk towards the stairs and Hoseok just left there, standing in the middle of the room because he didn't know what he should do.

"You can come too," Hyungwon said and continued his way up. Hoseok walked after him, taking a few quicker steps at first to keep up. The house was even bigger than it looked on the outside. Hoseok walked behind Hyungwon around the hallways. Everything was really fancy and the decorations were modern. Hoseok had never seen a house that was so aesthetically pleasing before. He almost wished that Hyungwon's room was more clean so it would look as nice as the rest of the house.

They arrived to a living room and there was a guy laying on the black leather couch. Hoseok recognized him as Yongguk even though he looked a bit older and less muscular - but still handsomer - than back when he was more popular.

"You gotta go deal with Gunhee yourself," Hyungwon said to him with a strict voice and Hoseok was still not used to him talking in that tone. "I don't want him to come to me."

"I don't have anything for Gunhee," Yongguk said. "Just tell him that he should leave it be."

"You can come to the park next time and do it yourself," Hyungwon sounded really pissed at his brother and Hoseok wondered what had Yongguk done to make his brother that angry. "Or call him. Also I have a guest so can you act like a proper twenty-year-old."

Yongguk turned to look at Hoseok who was standing a it further. "Right," he said and turned his eyes back to Hyungwon. "I have already been standing Gunhee's shit enough for one lifetime."

"Whatever," Hyungwon sighed and headed back downstairs. Hoseok followed him like he had done before. Yongguk continued playing with his phone or something. "He is actually much nicer when he is not with me," Hyungwon told Hoseok when they were back in his room.

"He didn't seem that bad," Hoseok muttered, sitting on Hyungwon's couch. Yongguk just seemed to be bickering with Hyungwon like brothers normally would.

Hyungwon shrugged and sat next to Hoseok half-accidentally brushing against Hoseok's shoulder while doing so. "Do you want to play something or go to sleep?"


	8. Chapter 8

Hoseok closed the bathroom door behind him and locked it. He had agreed on playing and they had played a match of FIFA which had ended up in Hoseok winning. FIFA wasn't what he usually liked to play but he was still good at it - or then Hyungwon was just not in the right mood today.

He leaned against the sink and looked at himself from the mirror. There was a light straight on top of the mirror and it cast shadows on Hoseok's face, making him look creepy. Hoseok started to roll his sleeve up carefully, trying not to touch the rash much. It was hard because the ends of the sleeves were so tight.

His damaged skin looked deep red and a bit purplish. It was full of thin and small cuts next to each other from the asphalt. There were few bigger ones and that was where the blood had came from. Some dried blood and dirt was in them which was probably the biggest reason of why it hurt.

Hoseok turned the water on and put his arm under it, flinching and inhaling sharply when the cold liquid came in touch with the rash. Even though it hurt, he rubbed his arm and until it was clean. He turned the water off and took a hand towel from the wall to dry his arm with it. Then he pulled the hoodie sleeve back down. The injured skin was still burning hot, even after the water, and Hoseok could feel it through the fabric.

He looked at himself from the mirror one more time and ran his a bit wet hand through his hair once before heading back to Hyungwon's room. Hyungwon was sitting on the bed and playing with his phone.

"Do you want to sleep on the couch, on the floor with a mattress or in bed next to me?" Hyungwon asked with not even one bit of hint in his voice - it was a good thing thought - and raised his eyebrows when Hoseok took a while to answer.

"I can sleep on the couch," Hoseok said and sat on the bed next to Hyungwon. He didn't really just want to stand there.

"Good so I don't have to go get you a mattress."

"Are you that lazy?" Hoseok joked with an awkward laugh. It became quiet for a while and he wondered if Hyungwon had gotten offended because of what he said.

"About last Friday..." Hyungwon started after that silence. His voice was much more quiet than before. Hoseok's heart missed a beat because he knew what Hyungwon was about to talk about. "I'm sorry for trying to kiss you and making you uncomfortable."

"It's okay. I wasn't really that... uncomfortable..." Hoseok said, lying. He really had been uncomfortable after that almost kiss had happened. In fact, he was still somewhat awkward around Hyungwon because of it. He couldn't be calm for even a second and for the whole time he was just wondering whether Hyungwon was trying to do something like that again. He wasn't sure why but he wanted to know what was the deal with Hyungwon.

"I don't regret it a single bit though," Hyungwon then said and that familiar feeling of heart skipping one beat hit Hoseok again.

"W-what?"

"I would try to kiss you again if I only had a change," he continued with a sly smirk on his face and locked his eyes at Hoseok's. Hoseok thought he had no shame. He said such thing like he was proud of it, not even doubting a bit.

"I'm not really interested in you... Like that..." Hoseok stuttered. Hyungwon was not breaking the eye contact they had and was slowly leaning closer. Hoseok leaned back, away from him. His abs hurt because they were the only thing keeping his body up as he drew more and more near the bed under him. His back touched the soft bed and he knew he was screwed because he couldn't escape any more and Hyungwon looked like he wasn't going to stop.

Hyungwon was holding himself up with his hands. He closed his eyes before their lips touched. Hoseok, instead, had his eyes open wide, even after the kiss started. Hyungwon's big lips kissed Hoseok's more thin ones deeply and even though Hoseok had been completely against this at first, something clicked inside his mind and he started kissing Hyungwon back. He finally let his eyes close and tried to not let Hyungwon completely dominate him.

Hyungwon's lips separated from Hoseok's, letting out a wet smack. They formed into a smile. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he said and got off from on top of Hoseok, letting him have some space again.

Hoseok sat up and when realization started to hit him. He froze and was just staring into the abyss. He had just let Hyungwon kiss him, enjoyed it and even started to kiss back. He wasn't sure why or how and he didn't know what to do now.

"I think I need to go home," Hoseok muttered. He stood up and walked to the door. He tried to put his shoes on quickly but didn't success and felt himself a bit clumsy when he had to lean on the wall to not fall while putting the other shoe on. Hyungwon didn't stop him. Hoseok took his skateboard and backpack and left.

He stepped on the skateboard as he arrived to the sidewalk and started making his way back to the skate park where his bike was. His mind was a mess but he tried to think about other things.

It didn't take him that long to arrive to the park and when he did, he noticed a familiar red hair. It seemed like Gingerboy still hadn't left home even though everyone else was already long gone. Instead of taking his bike and leaving, Hoseok decided to stay with him for a bit longer.

"Hey Gallagher!" he yelled and the ginger turned his towards him. He turned his skateboard around and headed to the bench where Hoseok was going to sit.

"I thought you went to Hyungwon's?" he asked with a confused look and came to sit next to Hoseok who let out a sigh. He didn't know where he would begin or what he would say.

"I did but then something happened..." Hoseok said. He corrected his position and stared at his feet. He could feel Gingerboy looking at him.

"What happened, Ho'? Tell me everything."

"Well it all started at the party when I went outside with Hyungwon," Hoseok started after enduring Ginger's pressuring, intensive gaze for a while before it made him start talking. Gingerboy leaned forward so he could look Hoseok straight into the eyes. "We just normally talked about things but then... Then he tried to kiss me?"

"What!?" Gingerboy gasped and put a hand in front of his mouth. "Woah, he really got no shame, you're almost like a stranger to him."

"I know right. But based on what I heard - he kissed you once too, right?"

Ginger nodded. "I was really drunk and I even started to kiss back but then I realized that it was Won," he explained, looking down because apparently he was bit ashamed of letting it happen. "I told him to never do that again or I'd kick his balls. I just think he likes to kiss people when he's drunk... Anyways, continue."

"Yeah I thought it was nothing but then today at his place he said that he doesn't regret it and that he wants to try it again and then..." Hoseok suddenly stopped talking.

"He kissed you?" Gingerboy finished for him, looking up to him again. Hoseok just gave him a slight nod. "You couldn't run away?"

"He basically pressed me against the damn bed, I didn't have any change," Hoseok cursed bitterly. He was still unsure about how he felt about the kiss. "I kissed him back, Gallagher, and I enjoyed it. That's the problem."

Gingerboy thought for a moment. "Are you gay?" he carefully asked.

"Maybe," Hoseok didn't want to straight up admit it but not deny it either.

"Do you like Hyungwon?"

"I have seen him for like three times..." he said. Gingerboy let out a groan and leaned back so he wasn't facing Hoseok anymore.

"Man, I'm not a fucking counselor," he sighed and started to dig his pockets for the usual L&M. "But I think you should give him a change. Maybe you'll end up liking him too," he said and took one cigarette, not offering to Hoseok because he knew Hoseok had his own ones. Soon a breeze of menthol from Ginger's cigarette came to Hoseok's lungs along with the smell of smoke.

"I wonder if he wants to see me anymore after I already rejected him twice," Hoseok wondered, thinking about how Yoonsun said Hyungwon had kissed her, Hyunwoo and Gingerboy. Those three probably all rejected him but he is not after them anymore.

"Trust me when I say this: he will be back here for you soon," Gingerboy assured, patting Hoseok's shoulder. "I know it because before you, he has never been here this often. Or at least in months he hasn't."

"That's ridicilous," Hoseok muttered.

"And you still have his hoodie too. He gotta come," Gingerboy finished. He drew the cigarette back to his lips and inhaled smoke from his mouth. Hoseok watched him, wondering if he was for real. Then he remembered that ever since the moment he first met Ginger, the red haired boy had proved himself to be a straight up person. Hoseok would doubt anything Jooheon said but Ginger he trusted.

"Are you going home?" Hoseok asked after a second. Gingerboy nodded and stood up. "I'm coming with you then," Hoseok followed him to his bike. They lived in the same direction even though Hoseok was still three miles away from him.

When they arrived to where Ginger lived, Hoseok said goodbye and wished him good luck on sneaking in the house. He was glad that he had became good friends with Gallagher. It felt really great to have  friend like he was after a long time of having to stand Minhyuk and Byungchul - who by the way hadn't shown up in a week. Maybe Ginger had scared them too badly.

Hoseok didn't know what he would do about the situation with Hyungwon, though. He went slowly because he didn't need to rush home. It was Friday and no one was waiting for him anyways.

He arrived and saw his parents on the living room, watching some feature film from television. He didn't say anything and tried to just go to his room quickly.

"Wash your clothes," his mother said. Hoseok stopped on his tracks and looked down. His jeans were broken and stained with blood and dirt. He had been wearing them all week and that was the result. "Shower too, your hair is dirty."

"Yes," Hoseok answered, gritting his teeth and went to his room.

He threw his backpack on the bed of his small room and started taking his clothes off. He let Hyungwon's hoodie drop on the ground - he would take it to laundry later - and walked to the bathroom with only jeans on. Hoseok was not really that muscular because he didn't exercise much but he still had a six-pack. It was mostly only because he was so skinny that there was nothing on top of the abs.

He looked at himself from the mirror again, turning a bit to the side so he could see his arm. The rash was already getting darker and in some days it would form a crust on top of it. Hoseok liked scars so he didn't mind.

He turned the water on and took his pants off while waiting for it to get hot. Then he stepped in the shower. The hot water burned his skin, making it red, but he didn't turn it colder. The still dirty cuts on his knee stung but he didn't care about that either. After washing his body and hair, he sat under the water that was still burning hot for another five minutes. For a while he wondered if he should send Hyungwon a message and apologize for suddenly just leaving like that but dropped that idea almost straight away.

Hoseok turned the water off and got out of the shower. He dried himself with a towel before walking to his room with it wrapped around his waist. He put on a black sweatshirt and - without even thinking - Hyungwon's sweatpants.

He crawled under his blanket and felt like he could finally relax, laying on his stomach. Somehow when his breaths got heavier as he was falling asleep, Hyungwon's plump lips and how they had felt against his own ones came back to his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Despite his usual restlessness, Hoseok slept well and woke up feeling like the opposite of tired. It was unusual for him since he usually was always sleepy but lately things had been changing. He got himself up from the bed and looked at the dirty clothes on the floor he had forgotten to put to laundry the night before. He took grey sweatpants - Hyungwon's ones, as you could assume - and some black, over-sized hoodie and put them on.

"I'm going out!" he yelled to his parents while walking through the living room to the front door with his backpack and skateboard. They only muttered something about him not being home so much lately but Hoseok didn't stay back to listen to it. He got out, took his bike and left to the skate park.

It was only twelve in the afternoon so Hoseok wasn't expecting for anyone else to be at the park yet. Everybody slept past noon or was too hangover in the morning to get themselves up early. When Hoseok arrived, he was surprised to see Jen and Lee Sang there. The two of them seemed to be morning people because a week ago they had also been the only ones there.

Hosoek left his bike next to the bench and hopped on top of his skateboard. Jen, who was sitting on the bench, greeted him with a bright smile but Lee Sang didn't say anything. He was always so quiet and Hoseok wondered if he spoke when the two of them were alone.

He skated past Lee Sang and headed towards the rail in the middle. The whole skateboarding thing was becoming natural for him and he almost forgot that he couldn't do any of the tricks yet.

He managed to grind on the bar for a split second but lost his balance and fell back. He got back on top of his board and continued his way towards the ramp. He took enough speed to get on top of it and not even knowing what he was doing, landed on it with the other end of his skateboard to turn around and continue his way back down.

"Woah, Hoseok, that was good!" Jen cheered for him and clapped her hands together. Hoseok just smiled, proud of that he had just achieved doing something and happy that someone had noticed it.

Hoseok gave her a small smile as he passed and Jen just encouragingly smiled back. He headed towards the another ramp to try to do the same thing. This time he didn't have that luck and couldn't even land properly in the first place.

Jen looked away to where Lee Sang was and pretended that she wasn't even looking at Hoseok in the first place. Hoseok continued going to the other way again with a small smile still trying to make it's way to his lips for some unknown reason. Hoseok felt himself weirdly happy.

After a good hour or so while Hoseok had tried many different things pretty freely, not even noticing the time passing that fast, he felt himself thirsty and headed towards the bench where Jen and now Lee Sang too were both sitting. He took a Red Bull from his backpack and sat next to Jen.

"I heard you only started a while ago but I think you're pretty good already," Jen told him. Hoseok felt bothersome hearing praises so he didn't answer anything. "Seriously. Even Lee Sang said so."

Hoseok looked over her to Lee Sang who didn't react in any way to what Jen said. He felt even more bothersome now when he knew Lee Sang had been talking about him too.

"I also heard you left with Hyungwon last night," she then said and Hoseok had a weird feeling in his stomach after hearing Hyungwon's name.

"What? How did you hear that?" he asked, not even bothering to deny the fact that he had been with Hyungwon. She couldn't know the details anyways.

"We have a groupchat with the others - you know Jooheon, Hyunwoo, Ginger, Kihyun and such," she explained and Hoseok tried to get a picture of just how many knows about this - if Minhyuk or Byungchul was in that group, it wouldn't be good. "Gingerboy came there yelling that something remarkable had happened."

Hoseok pressed his lips together tightly and held his breath while he waited for what Jen would say next. He started thinking about all the things he had told Ginger the night before.

"Did you and Hyungwon really kiss?"

"W-what?" Hoseok stuttered and he felt that weird feeling in his stomach again. "Fuck, I thought I could trust Gallagher..."

"So it is true?" Jen gasped and turned to Lee Sang to see his reaction and then back to Hoseok. "I thought it was just some Ginger's joke. This really is remarkable."

"How is it remarkable," Hoseok asked with a bit lower voice than before.

"Because although Hyungwon is kind of a player for trying to come onto everyone, he has still never acted like he was actually interested in someone," Jen explained with an excited voice.

"I don't think he is that interested..."

"He invited you to his house! Twice!" she almost yelled and had to take a few breaths to calm herself down. "During all the years we have known Hyungwon, he has never done things like this."

Hoseok felt anguished. So many people kept saying that Hyungwon was trying to hit on him and part of him wanted to believe that but that another part... All kinds of scenarios came to his mind. Since the moment his eyes had first met the eyes of that tall boy with fluffy hair and perfect facial structure, something had changed. Hoseok didn't know what it was. He had never been in love and only had some little crushes.

"Whatever," he said and looked away. Once again, he didn't want to completely deny the fact that he was gay - since he kind of was still closeted and questioning himself - he needed some other way to avoid the whole subject. "I'm not interested in Hyungwon."

"You're not?" Jen pouted and looked displeased as she leaned back against the bench with all the excitement she had had, disappearing from her face. "Do you want to join the groupchat though?"

-

Hoseok was on the ground in front of the flat that was in the middle of one of the ramps. He had been trying to do that same thing Gallagher had once promised to give up his snapback for. Changkyun had managed to do it so easily back then so why was he still struggling.

"Can you do that?" Jen asked, turning to her boyfriend who was sitting next to her on top of the ramp. Lee Sang didn't say anything but only gave a simple nod. Hoseok didn't pay attention to them and tried again. He was having trouble keeping his balance after landing and always fell backwards mo matter how much towards the front he tried to lean. "So can you tell Hoseok what he is doing wrong?"

"Uhm..." Lee Sang muttered, not even looking at Hoseok's direction. "We gotta go," he said. That was the first time Hoseok heard him say a word during the whole day.

"No we don't," Jen sighed and turned to look away from his boyfriend, back to Hoseok. "You can't avoid all the social situations by just leaving. It's not fair for Hoseok, who is trying to learn, either, that you're rude to him and don't even bother saying hi while we come here. We're staying no-."

"No, Jen, we really need to leave," Lee Sang cut her off with a more strict tone this time.

"What?" Jen stuttered and looked confused for a while but then turned around to look at the direction Lee Sang was staring at. Hoseok stood on his toes to see too. Gunhee was coming.

Jen didn't even move before Lee Sang grabbed her arm and pulled her down with him. She had to run a few steps to keep up with Lee Sang's fast walk. They got to Jen's motorcycle and she yanked her arm away from Lee Sang. For a split second he wondered where she suddenly got that attitude but then he noticed that Gunhee was almost there already. His longboard rolled fast towards them and he looked really angry.

"Jen, you stay with Hoseok and I'm gonna handle this," Lee Sang said and pushed the girl behind her. She took a few steps back to go where Hoseok was standing. Hoseok couldn't read her expressions well but she seemed scared. He couldn't tell if it was more because of herself or because of Lee Sang.

"Can you call Hyungwon," Jen asked, looking up to Hoseok with pleading eyes. Hoseok started digging out his phone. From what he had heard, Gunhee would rip your head off if you messed with him so Hoseok was kind of scared for Lee Sang. 

"You fucking dreadhead," Gunhee said and next his fist had already swung into Lee Sang's face. "That's my girl you--" Gunhee continued growling and throwing punches. He kicked Lee Sang's guts with his knee and the guy's body folded half. If Gunhee wouldn't have been holding him up from his collar, Lee Sang would have already been on the ground. What was interesting was that he didn't fight back. He just let Gunhee hit him even though it was shameful and he could feel his face burning up and his already broken nose flowing out blood.

"Hoseok?" Hyungwon answered the phone but Hoseok had already tossed the phone to Jen. He knew he needed to stop Gunhee before he would actually kill Lee Sang. He didn't know how and he probably wouldn't even be able to, but he just couldn't continue to watch.

"Hyungwon? Come quickly, it's Gunhee," Jen talked to the phone with a shaky voice. Hyungwon didn't say anything and the call ended.

Hoseok attempted to go between Gunhee and Lee Sang and the next punch Gunhee was trying to throw towards the other guy, landed on the side of Hoseok's face. He pushed Gunhee from his shoulders to get him further away from Lee Sang.

"This is none of your business," Gunhee threw Hoseok aside and he landed on the asphalt, hitting his shoulder against the ground pretty hard. Then Gunhee headed back to Lee Sang who was now on the ground on his knees because he had received so many hits he was already weak.

Gunhee kicked Lee Sang on the throat with his knee but before he could continue, someone had already grabbed him, in a more determined way than Hoseok had, and pulled him away from Lee Sang so hard he stumbled backwards on his feet. Lee Sang was keeping himself up with his hands, coughing hard because of the kick he had received. Jen quickly rushed over to him.

Hoseok got a sense of deja vu, as he looked at that scene helplessly from the ground. The first time he had met the eyes of Hyungwon, it had been after the guy had stopped a fight between Minhyuk and Byungchul.

"What are you here causing troubles for," a deep, calm voice spoke. Hoseok looked up to see Hyungwon's big brother, Yongguk holding Gunhee.

"You..." Gunhee muttered angrily and fought his way away from Yongguk. He turned to look at the black haired guy. "Fucking stay out of this," he continued. He didn't raise his fist though, nor look like he was getting ready to fight. Hoseok thought that maybe he didn't want to go against Yongguk.

"Jen is not your girl anymore and hasn't been that in a while now," Yongguk said, still staying calm. Jen helped Lee Sang to get up and took him to the bench to make him sit on it. "You gotta leave them be."

"You don't deserve to tell me what to do, you fucking asshole piece of shit" Gunhee let out versatile of curses and broke Hoseok's expectations by swinging his fist to Yongguk's face. Unlike how it had been with Lee Sang, Gunhee couldn't now continue the fight because Yongguk had put him on the ground with a few simple kicks that made it seem like he was trained at martial arts.

"Let's go settle this somewhere else. I needed to talk to you anyways," Yongguk said and turned around. "Also, nice to see you again, Hoseok," he started walking to the direction he had came from.

Gunhee got up from the ground and followed him with a displeased expression. Hoseok was surprised of how easily Gunhee obeyed Yongguk.

Jen came back to Hoseok and gave him the phone. He finally got up from the ground where he had ended up in after Gunhee had thrown him off.

"We're gonna go to a hospital now," she said and even though she tried to sound peaceful, Hoseok noticed that she was still freaking out because of what had happened - and obviously she was also worried for her boyfriend.

They got on top of the motorcycle and Jen drove away with Lee Sang holding her waist tightly. Hoseok sat on the bench and noticed that there was blood on it from Lee Sang's nose - fortunately he didn't sit on it because he was wearing those sweatpants of Hyungwon's.

He took a cigarette from his pocket and lighted it up. After raising his left hand to bring the cigarette to his mouth he noticed how much his shoulder hurt after the fall. He massaged it gently with his right hand and let out a small gasp because it hurt a bit. Then he sighed and brought the cigarette to his lips again.

Hoseok exhaled the smoke in the air and a cloud formed in front of him for a second or few. Then he heard someone approaching with a skateboard. He looked over there and saw Hyungwon coming. Hyungwon curved around the bench and stopped in front of Hoseok.

"Where's Gunhee?" was the first question Hyungwon asked. He kicked his board up and caught it with one hand.

"He left somewhere with Yongguk," Hoseok said simply without even looking at Hyungwon. Smoke came out of his nose and he was all focused on tapping the cigarette against the bench he was sitting on.

"Are you okay though?" Hyungwon's expression then turned to a more worried one and he sat next to Hoseok. He reached out to touch the bleeding cut on Hoseok's temple, close to his hairline. Hoseok flinched at his touch and moved his head away.

"Jen took Lee Sang to a hospital. He has broken nose and probably ribs too, just in case you care," Hoseok said, still focused on the cigarette.

Hyungwon felt like Hoseok was mad at him for some reason and it made him feel weird. "Wait, so my brother was here?" he suddenly asked after realizing what Hoseok had said.

Hoseok nodded. "He stopped Gunhee and then said something about them going to settle it somewhere else."

"He is so bipolar," Hyungwon sighed and finally looked away from Hoseok. "Just a day ago he refused to even go near where Gunhee might be."

Hoseok shrugged and dumped his cigarette to the ground.

"Damn, you really shouldn't have gotten involved," Hyungwon muttered and took out his hand to wipe some of the already half-dried blood off from Hoseok's face. This time Hoseok didn't even move.

"Should I just watch him beat the shit out of people," Hoseok said back with a bit of a sassy tone. He turned his head towards Hyungwon and looked at him straight in the eyes. Hyungwon's eyes had a worried look in them but Hoseok's were rather angry.

"No, or I don't know," Hyungwon was still keeping his hand on the side of Hoseok's face. "I just don't want anyone to hurt you."

"Why," Hoseok snapped. His mind wandered back to the last night when Hyungwon had came onto him.

"Because I like you."


	10. Chapter 10

"Why the hell would you like me," Hoseok snorted at Hyungwon's sudden confession. He tried to play it cool and coped by taking his skateboard and stepping on it, heading away from Hyungwon towards the ramps. Just trying to focus on skateboarding instead was the only thing he could do to get his mind straight. He didn't even look at Hyungwon, afraid that he would give away the feelings Hyungwon's previous words had caused him to feel.

"You can't ignore me forever, Hoseok," Hyungwon yelled with a small laughter. Then he took his own skateboard and came to where Hoseok was, not paying that much attention to the guy but just doing his own things.

Hoseok stopped after a while so he could follow what Hyungwon was doing. Hyungwon went up one of the ramps, grabbed the bottom of his board when he changed direction and smoothly jumped on top of the rail, sliding on it all the way to the bottom. He noticed that Hoseok was looking at him so he continued with a smirk on his face.

Only a while after that, Hyunwoo came to the park, riding his kick scooter. He had hurried there after hearing the news about Lee Sang and Gunhee in the groupchat.

"What was all that fuss about? Is Lee Sang okay?" he asked when he arrived to where the guys were.

"At least someone cares about Lee Sang," Hoseok sighed and eyed at Hyungwon to get him understand the message. Hyungwon raised his brows in a questioning look.

"I do care about Lee Sang. I was just more worried about you," Hyungwon tried to explain but Hoseok was ignoring everything he said.

"I hope he will be okay... He got hit pretty badly," Hoseok sighed and sat on top of the funbox next to them. Hyungwon continued to go to the other way and Hyunwoo stayed in front of Hoseok. He rolled his handle bar around.

"I should give him a call or something," Hyunwoo wondered, looking into somewhere afar. He took his phone out of his pocket and Hoseok guessed he had started to look for Lee Sang's number. Hyunwoo sat next to him but before he started dialing, his eyes landed on Hoseok. "Hold on, who hit you?" Hyunwoo asked Hoseok when he was just about to leave.

"Gunhee," he confessed. "I was trying to stop the fight between them."

"I hope Gunhee will suffer," Hyunwoo muttered under his breath. "Don't get involved in fights, okay? It's too dangerous, especially if it's Gunhee."

"Okay mom," Hoseok tried to get rid of the tension with a joke. Hyunwoo started the call and Hoseok continued skateboarding.

After a while of Hyungwon and Hoseok just going their own ways around the park, Jooheon arrived with his bike. He didn't ask about Lee Sang nor say much anything else either and just jumped on top of the funbox Hyunwoo was sitting at with his back wheel before settling down and just sitting on top of his BMX to talk to the guy.

"Can we go to your place?" he asked Hyunwoo and because Hoseok was just passing by them and heard it, he turned around and went to them. "I'm desperate to hang out."

-

They arrived to Hyunwoo's place. He lived in a house that was not so big and more messy than any other house Hoseok had ever been in. Hyunwoo came from poor family and his mother didn't really care about anything. The four of them walked to the kitchen and sat on the both sides of the kitchen table that had some empty soda and beer bottles, few dirty cups and bread crumbs on it.

"Is your brother not home?" Hoseok asked when he remembered Hyunwoo's little brother. Hyunwoo was sitting on the other side of the table with Jooheon and Hoseok couldn't avoid sitting next to Hyungwon. The other two seemed to be a bit awkward because of Hyungwon's presence and Hoseok knew it was because Hyungwon used to never hang out with them.

"He is at Chan's for the night," Hyunwoo explained and leaned back on his chair to take something from the refrigerator. He gave bottles of soju to everyone of them. Hyungwon took his small speaker out and put on some music. Everyone appreciated his music taste so no one said anything.

"He and Chan are probably doing something illegal," Jooheon said and opened his bottle. "He is Minhyuk's cousin after all."

"Is he?" Hyunwoo turned towards Jooheon, purely surprised look on his face. "I never knew that before."

"How could you not know that?" Jooheon snorted and took a sip of the soju, looking ahead with a confident look on his face because he felt smart for once. "They have the same family name too."

"Having Lee as a family name doesn't really tell anything," Hyungwon laughed and all Jooheon's smartness was vanished by just few words. "I know a hundred Lees."

"I'm going to have a long talk with Hyungsoo when he comes back home tomorrow," Hyunwoo muttered, taking the information he had received a bit too seriously.

"Lee family is really nice though," Hoseok commented and everyone's attention turned to him. "Minhyuk isn't that bad either, he just gives off a mean image of himself," he defended his so called friends, not even knowing himself why he was suddenly on their side.

"You still see Minhyuk and Byungchul as friends, right?" Hyunwoo sounded disappointed and he looked at Hoseok with a pitiful look.

"Well they have been my friends since we were young so..." Hoseok didn't know how to explain it but he just couldn't unfriend Minhyuk and Byungchul easily like that.

"I heard what they said about you back then at Jooheon's party," Hyungwon said and Hoseok turned to see him staring at him. "They're not your friends. You're just fun for them."

Hoseok felt anguished by what Hyungwon said and didn't continue the conversation any further. He drank some of the alcohol and then he heard someone coming. He turned towards the door. Changkyun walked in noisily. He threw his backpack on the bench next to Jooheon and sat there.

"What are you talking about?" Changkyun asked, seeming really energetic. Hyunwoo leaned towards the fridge again to take few more bottles of soju. He gave one of them to Changkyun. "Are these guys bullying you, Hoseok, or why do you looks so grumpy?" he jokingly asked.

"We're not bullying him," Jooheon answered for Hoseok.

"I didn't ask you," Changkyun remarked and gave Jooheon a serious look before turning back to Hoseok.

"They bully me a lot," Hoseok said and faked a pout. Changkyun's grip around the green glass bottle tightened and he looked like he was about to be furious. He knew Hoseok was kidding around but he still played along.

"No one bullies our little Hoseok, okay!" he raised his voice. Jooheon cracked a laugh and so did Hyunwoo.

"We will protect him," Hyungwon said, looking at Hoseok with a small smile. Changkyun raised his eyebrows because he was impressed and gave a meaningful look to Jooheon and Hyunwoo. He leaned back on his chair and took a sip of the soju, eyeing the view of Hyungwon not even trying to hide his utter adoration towards Hoseok.

Three people came much quietly than Changkyun had just five minutes before. Kihyun went to sit next to Hoseok and Yoonsun on the edge of the table because there were no more room on the sides. Guy with fluffy red hair put a heavy glass bottle on the table before sitting next to her.

"Uhm... Gallagher why do you have whiskey?" Hoseok carefully asked, being the only one to pay enough attention to Gingerboy's choice of drink.

"I stole it from my ol' man," Ginger said. He opened the bottle and reached out to take a bit stained mug from in front of Jooheon. He poured some of the liquor to it and drank a sip. Hoseok got a thought that it was gross but then realized that it must be a mug he regularly uses or something - he hung out with Hyunwoo a lot after all.

"Does anyone know what's up with Lee Sang?" Kihyun asked, being the second person of the day who worries about the poor guy.

"When I called him he said he was waiting for an X-ray for his ribs," Hyunwoo told, earning a gasp from the two sitting in the end of the table - Gingerboy and Yoonsun.

"I hope he will be okay," Changkyun said with a worried tone. "Damn Gunhee, when will he stop this."

"Lee Sang is lucky Yongguk happened to pass by and came to stop Gunhee," Hoseok earned everyone's attention by mentioning the one name. "It was so scary, I think both of us would have lost our lives otherwise."

"Yongguk?" Jooheon yelped and leaned closer to see if Hoseok was being for real. Hoseok just nodded and furrowed his brows a little, not knowing why he seemed to be so surprised about that. "Are you sure it was Yongguk? Hyungwon's brother Yongguk?"

"It was Yongguk," Hoseok said with a bit more quiet tone. He didn't know why Jooheon was questioning his word. "He left with Gunhee to 'settle their things somewhere else'."

"Woah, I can't believe it," Jooheon sounded amazed. He leaned back again and took his soju bottle from the table. Hoseok finally opened the bottle Hyunwoo had set in front of him. He had never tasted soju before and after the Red Bull-vodka mix on the weekend before, soju tasted much more strong. After taking the first sip Hoseok couldn't understand why the others - especially Jooheon and Changkyun - seemed to be enjoying it that much but then after the second sip he suddenly realized that it didn't taste so bad after all.

"Want to hear some more of Jooheon's shit," Changkyun suddenly asked. Everybody was interested immediately because Jooheon always had some interesting things happening in his life and everybody wanted to know about them.

"Oh shit, what are you gonna say," Jooheon muttered but didn't stop Changkyun for saying what he was about to. Gingerboy poured more whiskey to his mug and Kihyun opened a soju bottle for Yoonsun. He couldn't drink anything himself because he was going to drive both of them home.

"On Wednesday we were at the bank -" 'bank' was what they called one popular hangout center at their town that had indoor skatepark, some noodle place and obviously a bank "- and Jooheon's ex from last December happened to come there."

Jooheon seemed frustrated but he still wasn't going to stop Changkyun from talking. Everybody seemed to be listening very carefully, even Hyungwon, who wasn't really interested in anything, ever.

"Of course Jooheon wanted to show off and he was on his BMX so he tried to jump on the bench that was next to us and do some trick. I don't even know what he tried to do but whatever. He ended up falling just as the girl walked past us and..." Changkyun tried to hold back his laughter so he could continue. "The bike fell to the ground with rumble, Jooheon stumbled on his feet towards the girl and fell on top of her."

"Fuck, Jooheon, 'y you can never do anything," Gingerboy laughed at him and Jooheon glanced at the redhead in a bad way.

"Because of my bad luck, there happened to be water on the ground and we fell on it," Jooheon groaned, trying to act like it was some unfortunate thing but in reality it had turned out to be the opposite.

"Let me guess, you took her to your place so you could 'give her dry clothes' and then you ended up making out or even more while she was changing," Yoonsun let out a small sigh.

"Good guess,"Changkyun answered before Jooheon could say anything. "Typical Jooheon."

"Well how can I resist? She has gotten a lot prettier since we were together. Damn it--," Jooheon suddenly turned really dreamy, recalling to the moments from few days ago.

"We don't want any details!" Kihyun suddenly raised his voice to stop him from talking. Hoseok laughed at his almost panic-like yell. Jooheon seemed almost a bit embarrassed even though he had no regrets regarding to anything. Hyunwoo noticed that Gingerboy had took a cigarette from somewhere and was keeping it in between his lips to light it up.

"You still can't smoke in here," Hyunwoo said and took the cigarette from him at the same time the flame appeared on top of his lighter. "Go outside."

Gingerboy snatched the cigarette back from him. "Fuck you Hyunwoo," he snapped with a tone that was suddenly much more angry than just few seconds ago. He poured what was rest in his mug down his throat and put the mug back on the table with a bang.

"Well someone clearly got up on the wrong side of the bed today," Jooheon rolled his eyes, making Gingerboy even more mad.

"How about you shut the fuck up," Gingerboy raised his voice at Jooheon and Hoseok flinched because he sounded scary. Jooheon didn't even move and seemed to be almost proud of himself for getting on Gingerboy's nerves.

"Ginger..." Hyunwoo warned with a calm voice, carefully following the red haired guy next to him and hoping that he wouldn't blow.

"What have I said?" Jooheon yelped, extending his arms wide. That was the last straw for Ginger, who was clearly not in the mood to take anyone's shit. He took his whiskey and walked out, slamming the front door shut to express his anger. He was overreacting and everyone knew it but Jooheon still should have watched what he said.

"You should learn to shut up for once," Hyunwoo said before standing up and following Ginger outside. A heavy silence landed on the kitchen after Hyunwoo was gone.

"Shit, Jooheon," Changkyun muttered and shook his head. "Hey Hyungwon, now that you're here and because Hoseok only says he doesn't know, can you tell us what's the deal between you and Hoseok," he turned towards the tall guy sitting in front of him who had not been expecting to hear that question.

"I can't," Hyungwon answered with a confident smile and Yoonsun let out a small 'ooh' that was barely audible. Hoseok, who had thought Hyungwon would say something bad, felt like he was able to breathe again. "Not yet," Hyungwon added, making Changkyun and Jooheon even more frustrated - they couldn't stand not knowing about something.

No one asked anything more about the status of Hyungwon's and Hoseok's relationship and they just continued to talk about other things. Hyunwoo and Gingerboy came back inside a quarter later. Neither of them said anything and Gingerboy was avoiding everyone's gazes. He didn't even look towards Jooheon's direction. Hoseok sensed that he was still angry or at least tried to act like he was even though Hyunwoo and two cigarettes had managed to get him to calm down a little.

"Sorry Jooheon," Gingerboy said quietly, not happy about that he had to be the one to apologize. The awkward atmosphere didn't last for long because Jooheon cheerfully started to tell another story about his experiences.

Yoonsun and Kihyun were the first ones to leave because he had strict parents who called him home by eleven. Yoonsun probably slept over at his place because she never wanted to go home. Kihyun's parents were like another family for Yoonsun and they always let her stay there whenever she wanted to.

Hoseok's cheeks were already rosy even though he didn't seem that much drunk on the outside when he was not talking. Now when there was no caffeine mixed with his alcohol, the drunken symptoms came much clearer - and he had drank a bottle or few already.

"Want to go?" Hyungwon asked, leaning closer to him and looking at him with raised eyebrows. Hoseok tried to avoid noticing any seduction in his eyes.

"Where are we going?" Hoseok snorted. When he was drunk, it seemed to be so much more easy to refuse Hyungwon's suggestions.

"To my place," Hyungwon simply said. "Or did you seriously think about going home tonight?"

"Well..."

"Go ahead," Changkyun tried to encourage Hoseok who seemed to be doubtful about if he should go with Hyungwon or not. "Me and Jooheon are about to leave soon too."

"Let's go," Hyungwon stood up and waited for Hoseok to move too because he couldn't get anywhere from behind the table as long as Hoseok was in front of him.

Hoseok took one last sip of the second soju bottle Hyunwoo had given him and then stood up. "See you all at the park tomorrow?" he said, looking at all the four guys sitting in front of him.

"Bye," Jooheon raised his hand to give a quick wave to Hoseok and Hyungwon who then walked out.

"Hyungwon seemed much nicer than before," Gingerboy said and because they were still putting their shoes on in the front door, they both could hear it.

"Shh," Hyunwoo hissed at him and quietly whispered: "I don't think they left yet."


	11. Chapter 11

Hoseok was drunk enough for Hyungwon to not want to see him getting on top of a skateboard so he carried both of their boards and they walked side by side each other all the way to Hyungwon's house which was in the opposite direction from the park compared to Hyunwoo's. Hoseok stumbled on his feet a bit and had to grab Hyungwon by his jacket to keep himself from falling to the ground.

"Hold on," Hyungwon said and made Hoseok stop before he could continue the walk. He turned Hoseok around a bit and put both of their skateboards behind Hoseok's back so they would stay there, hanging from the backpack. "Get on my back," Hyungwon got a little lower so Hoseok could climb on.

First Hoseok almost made Hyungwon fall too because he failed to get on his back and Hyungwon was about to lose his balance. Hoseok put hands on his shoulders and Hyungwon had to pick him up by his legs because apparently Hoseok couldn't do it properly. He made Hoseok jump up a little so he could get his arms better under Hoseok's knees and Hoseok wrapped his arms around Hyungwon's neck and rested his head on Hyungwon's other shoulder.

"Try to stay still, this is hard enough anyways," Hyungwon said and started walking. Hoseok wasn't exactly heavy but carrying him still wasn't easy, especially when he was leaning in one direction and pulling Hyungwon there with him.

"Are you saying I weight too much?" Hoseok asked and Hyungwon turned his head a bit to look at the guy on his back.

"I should just work out more," Hyungwon admitted and positioned Hoseok better on his back again. Skateboarding was the only sport Hyungwon did so he didn't really have much muscle on his body.

They didn't talk for the rest of the way to Hyungwon's house. Hyungwon walked slowly so his thighs wouldn't start to cramp so quickly. At some point he thought Hoseok had fallen asleep because the guy seemed to lay on his back so peacefully with his head resting against Hyungwon's but when they finally came to his house and Hoseok jumped down on his own, Hyungwon was glad he hadn't started to assume anything.

"Are your parents still not home?" Hoseok asked when he looked up the house and saw that almost all the lights were off. Hyungwon started walking towards the back of the house where his door was at.

"They will be home by tomorrow morning," Hyungwon answered and took keys from his pocket to open the door. His parents had meetings all over the country often and they were often gone for few days at the time since they were also into travelling and staying in other cities. Sometimes Hyungwon didn't notice their absence because he was often out or in his basement but of course he would have appreciated if they were there more - especially because of Yongguk.

"Aren't you afraid being alone?" Hoseok stepped in the house and closed the door behind him.

"What would I be afraid of?" Hyungwon let out a laugh. He grabbed a controller and sat on his couch. "Also this house is so well secured that nothing unwanted could come in here."

"I don't know," Hoseok shrugged, thinking about how he wouldn't even be able to sleep alone in a big house like Hyungwon's. He sat next to Hyungwon and took the same controller he used the last time from the floor.

"I was more scared when I was little but you get used to it," Hyungwon spoke, his eyes fixed on the screen as he chose the same game they played last time. A second of darkness later the logo flashed on the screen. He switched over to Spotify and soon a heavy beat of the song he had chosen started coming from the speakers instead of the music of the game.

Hoseok didn't say anything and they started to play the game. Hoseok had a guess that Hyungwon played a lot on his free time when he was often alone and that was how he was so good. Hoseok in the other hand was a quick learner and even though FIFA was not in his list of games he usually played, he was getting a hand of it quickly after the first time. They were pretty much equal which Hyungwon was glad about because he liked competition. They played the game without really talking much and just focusing on the game, only letting out random curses or groans every now and then when they missed a perfect opportunity to score or when the other scored.

"Motherfu-- Should we go get drinks?" Hyungwon was about to curse at Hoseok but stopped himself quickly and changed his tone to normal when he asked the question and paused the game while it was showing the goal Hoseok just made from five different directions. "Maybe something to eat too. I haven't eaten anything today," he continued.

He turned to look at Hoseok who just nodded and put his controller on the couch next to him. They stood up and walked upstairs. Hyungwon turned on some of the lights on their way to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door and thought for a while before taking a six-pack of some cans - Hoseok wasn't quite sure what exactly they were since he wasn't expert when it came to alcohol, probably some mild drinks - and continued to look inside.

"Are you hungry?" he turned to look at Hoseok over his shoulder.

"Not that much," Hoseok said even though he, just like Hyungwon, hadn't eaten any proper food during the whole day.

"Hmm..." Hyungwon muttered and looked in the refrigerator for a while before closing the door and turning to face Hoseok. "Want to order black bean noodles?" he asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"What?" Hoseok snorted because the thought of Hyungwon, who had a huge refrigerator full of food, wanted to order something as usual as black bean sauce noodles.

"Or we can order fried chicken too if you like that more," Hyungwon suggested and started to take out his phone already.

"Chicken sounds good," Hoseok said, hastily making a decision because Hyungwon's gaze seemed so pressuring.

Hyungwon pressed his phone against his ear and when the fried chicken delivery answered, he started telling the order like it was everyday thing. Hoseok got a feeling that he ordered food often since it seemed to be a routine for him. He found it kind of unfortunate that Hyungwon did that when his refrigerator had a wide selection of side dishes but then again, who could resist cheap delivery food.

Hyungwon was in the middle of the call when he was suddenly interrupted by noise. There was a loud bang, shattering of a glass and some other muffled noises coming from the other side of the house. Hoseok, whose blood ran cold because he got scared, turned to look at Hyungwon who was slowly lowering the phone with a blank stare in his eyes.

"You know where to deliver it," Hyungwon quickly said to the phone, hung up and put it back to his pocket as he started running through the house. Hoseok followed him without asking anything.

He was busy trying to keep up with Hyungwon so he almost ran into the guy when he suddenly stopped in front of a closed door. Hyungwon tried the doorknob furiously with maybe a bit too much force. It was obviously locked and Hyungwon noticed it too after the first try but it didn't stop him from twisting the doorknob few more times. He banged the door with his fist.

"Open the door," he said with a stern voice. Hoseok, panicking himself because he didn't know what was happening, didn't sense any emotion like that in Hyungwon's tone. There was no answer to Hyungwon's demand. "Open the fucking door, Yongguk, or I'm gonna break it down."

"Don't you have a spare?" Hoseok asked with a cautious voice because to be honest, he was also a bit afraid of the way Hyungwon was acting.

"Right," Hyungwon said with much more kindness than just a moment ago when he was yelling at the door of Yongguk's room. "Thanks," he quickly added as he ran to the living room and started going through the jars and baskets on the bookshelf.

Hoseok waited next to the door for Hyungwon who came back in a short time, this time with a small key on his hand. Hoseok moved out of the way a little so he could open the door.

Hyungwon opened the door to see a dark room that had only a small light coming from one corner. Hoseok couldn't see inside and he wasn't sure if Hyungwon was blocking his view with the door on purpose. "Can you wait in the living room for a bit," Hyungwon said, making Hoseok to realize that it indeed was on purpose. Hoseok nodded and turned back to walk to the living room.

Hyungwon went in Yongguk's room and closed the door behind him. After that Hoseok didn't knew what happened inside. After about ten minutes, Hyungwon walked out of the room to the kitchen, not giving even a small glance to Hoseok as he went past him, going back with a white cloth and a bottle of liquor. Hoseok cringed because he knew what that was for and how unpleasant it was.

Hoseok could hear them speaking but he couldn't make out any words. A while later, Hyungwon finally came back. He walked into the living room and sat in front of Hoseok, setting the things he had on top of the table in front of them. The white cloth, that was now used to keep the pieces of a broken mirror Hyungwon had collected, was wet with alcohol and had blood stains all over it. Once full liquor bottle was now almost half empty which made Hoseok know that it hadn't been used only to clean the possible wounds.

"Is Yongguk okay?" Hoseok asked, trying to read the answer from Hyungwon's expression but it was difficult as usual.

"He had some kind of a breakdown. It's because of Gunhee. I regret making him go deal with him," Hyungwon spoke with a low voice, probably to make sure Yongguk wouldn't hear them.

"It's not your fault," Hoseok said to comfort him. Hyungwon looked at him with a small smile.

"I know. Something just went badly wrong between them today. But don't worry about Yongguk. He is adult and should be capable of taking care of himself."

"Our food is here," Hoseok said the obvious when he heard doorbell ringing. Hyungwon stood up, saying that he would go get it and walked to the front door.

After getting the delicious-smelling chicken, they went back to the basement and continued to play the game which Hoseok was about to win, trying to not think about the guy upstairs.

-

Hyungwon noticed when Hoseok had gotten too drunk because his playing had started to get more sloppy and it was Hyungwon's turn to win. Also, Hoseok had started to get more louder which Hyungwon found surprising - alcohol sure brought new sides from people.

"Suck that, motherfucker," Hoseok yelled when he finally managed to score, not caring about how he was still losing by two. He took his can and tilted it upside down to get the final drops but there were nothing left. Either the chicken had been spicy or he just felt like drinking a ton - Hyungwon thought it was probably the latter since the chicken was not spicy at all. Hoseok reached for a new can, which happened to be the last one, and was about to open it when Hyungwon stopped him.

"I think that's enough for you today," he took the can from Hoseok's hand and put it away. "You're a really poor drinker," he seemed amused by how drunk Hoseok was.

"Am I drunk?" Hoseok asked, clinging onto Hyungwon's arms as he tried to get himself to sit up straight.

"Wasted," Hyungwon answered. Hoseok just muttered something as they continued to finish the game. Hyungwon was keeping an eye on him, not really focusing that much on the screen. Hoseok leaned forward to focus more on the game and brought the controller closer to his face as if it would make it easier to play.

"Ohh... Oh!" Hoseok yelped when the last seconds of the game were running and his player was getting ready to score. Somehow magically the ball managed to go past the goalkeeper even though he didn't even know which direction he was shooting. "Ooh!" He shouted and threw his hands in the air and stood up.

"Loser, loner, a coward who pretends to be though," Hoseok started singing, pointing at Hyungwon who didn't mind being dissed. He had a small, half-smile on his face and he was just looking at Hoseok enjoying his win. "Just a loser--"

"Come on..." Hyungwon was a bit embarrassed to see Hoseok singing at him. Hoseok had a nice voice, even though he was drunk, but as he was overdoing all the notes, it revealed his drunken state. Hyungwon pulled him back down and put his legs and arms around him to keep him still. Hoseok struggled to get himself free for a second but then just rested at Hyungwon's lap. "I'm surprised to see this side of you."

"What side?" Hoseok mumbled and closed his eyes because it was just so comfortable to lay in between Hyungwon's arms and legs. He suddenly started to feel more tired.

"Well you are usually more quiet and don't talk much unless you need to. You don't like to get attention from the others," Hyungwon explained and Hoseok seemed to be listening his words really carefully. "But that's what I like about you."

"You like me? Ew," Hoseok pretended to be disgusted and opened his eyes to look at Hyungwon whose head was hanging on top of his own.

"What? Am I not allowed to like you?" Hyungwon let out a laugh. He moved his other hand from around Hoseok to lean against the back of the couch so he could lay his head on it.

"You are. But I won't like you back," Hoseok said with much determination in his voice.

"I can handle that. I will like you as long as you are around."

"I'm not even gay, you know," Hoseok muttered and closed his eyes again, ignoring Hyungwon's comments completely.

"I know," Hyungwon snorted with that small smile on his face again. Hoseok didn't see it though but after just a small moment, he felt it against his lips. Hoseok pushed his lips out and opened his mouth a bit to gently kiss Hyungwon back. Hyungwon broke the kiss sooner than Hoseok would have wanted - to be honest, Hyungwon wanted more too but decided to not go too far - and he was left with a tingling sensation on his lips.

"Okay, I might be a bit gay," Hoseok admitted and let out a drunken laugh.

"I know that too," Hyungwon rested his head on his hand again and continued looking at Hoseok who was still on his lap. "Did you pass out?" he asked after a while of silence. When another while had gone by, he took it as a yes.

Hyungwon took Hoseok on his arms and stood up from the couch. He carried Hoseok to his bed and carefully placed him down. He covered him with a blanket and then walked back to the couch because he was not yet sleepy himself. He hadn't drank even nearly as much as Hoseok, who for some reason had downed so much soju back in Hyunwoo's place, and had a better tolerance in general. He turned the speakers off and continued to play the soccer game alone.


	12. Chapter 12

When Hoseok woke up with the feeling of his head feeling like it was almost splitting into half, the first thing he noticed - besides the killed headache - was that he was not in his own bed. He looked around and realized that he was under Hyungwon's blanket and Hyungwon himself was sleeping on the couch few meters left with a rug on top of his lower body.

"What the hell happened last night," Hoseok muttered to himself and started to try to recall everything that had happened after the moment he and Hyungwon had left from Hyunwoo's place. He held his head with his hands and let out a groan to cope with pain.

He remembered that he and Hyungwon had played FIFA while eating chicken and drinking. He had drank a lot because he just couldn't stop himself and it was also a good way to distract himself from Hyungwon - and to keep his lips busy at all times. He - unfortunately for himself - remembered singing Loser to Hyungwon but shortly after that his memory went blank. He had no idea at which point did he fall asleep and what happened before that. He glanced over to Hyungwon again and hit his head back in the pillow.

"What am I doing," he moaned into the pillow and pulled the blanket to cover his head. ' _I didn't kiss him, right?'_ was the only thing Hoseok had running in his mind. Hyungwon had been Hoseok's first kiss and Hoseok remembered the feeling well. It had only been two days and all. Hyungwon's lips had been really soft and moist. Hoseok pressed his face harder into the pillow as he recalled that memory.

"Hyungwon, breakfast!" someone shouted when Hoseok was just about to fall asleep again. He wanted to sleep the headache off. He didn't react in the yell in any way and just continued to try to sleep, his head under the blanket.

After a short while, Hyungwon had gotten up and knelt next to the bed. "Hoseok," he said softly. "Let's go eat."

Hoseok took the blanket off his head and opened his eyes to look at Hyungwon. "My head is killing me," he complained and sat up slowly again, massaging his forehead with his palm. The concept of a hangover was still unfamiliar for him and he didn't get headaches often so he thought he was about to die.

"I know. You drank a lot," Hyungwon said and stood up, waiting for Hoseok to accompany him because he didn't want to go upstairs to eat alone with his parents. "I thought you had better tolerance so I didn't stop you sooner."

"Last time I had a headache this bad was when --," Hoseok was about to say something but stopped himself when he realized what was he just about to say and to Hyungwon.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Hoseok didn't say anything anymore and just got up and followed Hyungwon up the stairs, hoping that he would feel better soon. He was ashamed that he had drank so much alcohol in one night - he didn't really have an awareness of how much was a lot since alcohol was basically new for him - and what being wasted had caused him to do or say.

They got to the dining room and Hoseok saw three people sitting on the both sides of the table. One of them was Yongguk, who Hoseok noticed to have nasty cuts on his knuckles after what had happened the night before. The two others Hoseok assumed to be Hyungwon's parents. For Hoseok it felt weird to see a whole family eating breakfast together since he never dined with his parents or spent any time with them at all.

"Who's this," the mother asked, looking directly at Hoseok, then Hyungwon and then Hoseok again. She looked mean in Hoseok's eyes. Judging by the fact that she didn't have any wrinkles on her eyes and corners of mouth, Hoseok wondered if she ever laughed or smiled. The father sitting next to her was no better. He was well built and handsome - which explained where Hyungwon had gotten his looks - but at the same time Hoseok didn't want to meet his eyes.

"He is Hoseok," Hyungwon introduced him with a small smile that made Hoseok feel weird. "My boyfriend," he continued without hesitation. Hoseok's eyes widened. He head a glass hitting hard against the table and two pairs of eyes staring holes at him - Yongguk didn't seem to care that much since his attention was only on the food.

"Nice to meet you, Hoseok," Hyungwon's mother said, the corners of her lips turning upwards just a slight bit to form a smile that was obviously fake.

"What the fuck?" Hoseok, borderline panicking, mouthed to Hyungwon as they sat down on the kitchen table next to each other.

"I'll explain later," Hyungwon mouthed back, not making Hoseok's uneasy feeling get any more better.

-

After a really awkward breakfast that had contained nothing but frivolous conversations about the two sons' lives and what had been going on in the parents' job, Hoseok felt almost glad by the fact that he never have to go through that with his parents. He rather did not talk to them at all than to have forced conversations like that.

"What the hell was that boyfriend thing? Did something happen last night I can't remember?" Hoseok asked immediately when they had gotten back downstairs to Hyungwon's room.

Hyungwon smiled and Hoseok got even more anxious. In his mind he was silently praying that his drunk self hadn't actually agreed on being Hyungwon's boyfriend or something. "Don't worry," Hyungwon said, cleaning up their cans and other trash from the night before a bit. "I just said that to piss off my parents."

"What?" Hoseok was somewhat surprised by the answer.

"They hate it whenever I bring guys home. It's okay no matter how many girls I have but when it's a guy..." Hyungwon explained, moving the empty chicken bucket that was now filled with trash to the table. "They have been doing all they can to 'straighten' me."

"Oh..."

"I want to get back to them as much as I can. Are you in?"

"In on what?"

"Will you act like we are dating around my parents?"

"Uhm...." Hoseok muttered, putting his backpack on his shoulder because they were about to go outside to the park.

"Good."

Hoseok couldn't say anything and they took their skateboards and left. Hoseok skated alongside Hyungwon much easier now and didn't get left behind like he usually did. His headache had already gotten better or at least he had gotten used to it a bit so he didn't really pay attention to it. He only noticed it if he thought about it.

"What have your parents done?" he asked to relive his curiosity. Hyungwon turned to look at him but didn't say anything. Hoseok thought he needed to clarify. "To make you straight."

"Not anything extreme," Hyungwon turned back to the road. "They never forget to remind me how disappointed they are that I turned out this way. And they say that they would kick me out if they weren't as well educated as they are."

Hoseok was looking at him as he talked, almost drifting himself to a wrong direction at some points when he forgot that he was on top of a skateboard.

"Then they also blame Yongguk for not being good enough of a big brother. Once they gave some girl money to, well, be with me. She was really nice. Turned out to be lesbian. We hunted for stray dogs and gave them treats. Got three of them following us the next day."

"Are you still friends with her?" Hoseok asked because she sounded like a nice person.

"We don't really talk but I have met her a couple of times in the mall. Her girlfriend is really pretty," Hyungwon answered, quickly glancing at Hoseok with a small smile.

They arrived to the park where many others were already. Hyunwoo, Gingerboy, Jooheon and Changkyun were all skating - or well, Hyunwoo was with a scooter and Jooheon had his BMX - back and forth between the two ramps, skillfully avoiding running into each other.

"'Sup Gallagher," Hoseok said to the redhead as he passed him, also joining the four with Hyungwon. He seemed to get over his hangover as soon as he saw the park and got filled with energy, skating to the top of the ramp. Gingerboy only answered to him with a suggestive smile and Hoseok knew it was because of Hyungwon.

"Anything about Lee Sang?" Hoseok asked from Jooheon on top of the ramp, not knowing himself why he was so concerned about the guy.

"He just left here. Looked like shit but seemed to be happy about it and was just skating normally," Jooheon said. Hoseok turned his board around and went back down the ramp, away from Jooheon who followed him after a second.

Only when he raised his arms up while jumping on top of the rail in the middle, Hoseok noticed how much his shoulder hurt after the impact of Gunhee throwing him to the ground. He tried to not care about it and move his arm normally as much as he could but it sure made things different when the pain distracted him from focusing on the important.

After a while of skating, he went to sit on the bench. Hyungwon came next to him soon after.

"Why are you so stiff? Are you hurt?" he asked and poked Hoseok's shoulder. Hoseok unwillingly let out a sound to express the pain. "I don't think you should try so much if you're hurting. It won't do no good."

"It's nothing. If Lee Sang can skate with a broken arm I can skate with a bruise," Hoseok muttered, not sounding pleased with his condition and the fact that Hyungwon was totally babying him. He reached for his backpack to take a RedBull.

"Lee Sang is Lee Sang. You're going to get more hurt if you fall now," he said but Hoseok didn't even look at him. Hoseok felt like something had changed in the way Hyungwon treated him and it was weird. He didn't like having someone to worry about him.

Gingerboy was heading over to them - probably drawn by the smell of RedBull. Hoseok gave him the energy drink he had only taken a sip of and stood on his board, starting to skate back to the ramps.

"Do you not hear me? You have concussion or something?" Hyungwon yelled after him.

"Hoseok has a concussion?" Gingerboy asked from Hyungwon after sitting down. He had only heard that part of the conversation.

"He has no sense in that little head of his, acting like he wants to get hurt," Hyungwon shook his head and leaned back on the bench, following Hoseok with his eyes.

-

Despite being annoyed by the fact that he had to worry about Hoseok, Hyungwon ended up helping him with an ollie - and even taking it further to a frontside ollie. Hoseok felt a bit uncomfortable having Hyungwon helping him but it was good because he made more progress than with anyone else.

After landing with his skateboard upside down once again and having to step back to gather his balance, Hoseok let out a frustrated groan and kicked his board up from the ground. He couldn't understand why Hyungwon seemed to be so patient.

"Maybe Hoseok is a hopeless case," Jooheon, stopping next to them while passing by with his bike, suggested. "Hyungwon you will be here the whole night if you continue like that."

"Shut up," Hyungwon said to Jooheon without even looking at him. Hoseok threw his head back and sighed heavily while looking at the sky. He felt like Jooheon was right. "Don't listen to him, Hoseok, he is an ass."

Hoseok sat down on the ground on top of his skateboard.

"Germany!" Gingerboy suddenly yelled and everyone - even Hyungwon and Germany himself - knew what that meant. Hoseok leaned a bit to the side to look over Hyungwon towards the almost white-haired guy that was coming towards them with a bike.

Straight after seeing that, his motivation suddenly hit him again. He stood back up and moved his skateboard a bit to the side. Hyungwon moved out of the way so Hoseok could do as he was about to. He kicked some speed and started going to the other way, balancing on top of the board before getting it up from the ground. He knew he could have ollie'd from that spot but instead, he wanted to try to flip the board around 180 degrees, ending up to be a bit off in the landing but still managing to keep himself up.

"Hoseok, my man," Minhyuk called as he got off his bike and walked a few steps to where Hoseok had turned around at to go back to Hyungwon. He cringed after hearing Minhyuk.

"What are you doing here?" Hoseok asked, his voice completely normal as if he was talking to a friend - which he technically was.

"Waiting for Byungchul, we were supposed to meet here," Minhyuk said and took Hoseok's board with one of his feet. Knowing Minhyuk's non-existing skills, he was worried for his precious skateboard he had gotten from Changkyun. 

"I'm surprised you are daring enough to show your face here," Ginger suddenly came from behind Minhyuk, putting his arm around the blond's shoulders, wide grin on his face. "Knowing that no one here likes you and all."

"Hoseok likes me," Minhyuk said and gave Hoseok a meaningful look to make him go along with his words. "Right, Hoseok?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, don't bother him, Gallagher," Hoseok said to the red haired one whose grin faded away but didn't completely disappear yet. He patted Minhyuk on the shoulder so roughly that he let out a small 'ow'. Then he got on top of his skateboard and started going to the other way, minding his own business and cursing inside his mind to how ignorant Hoseok was.

Minhyuk kicked some speed from the ground and Hoseok moved away from in front of him as the skateboard slowly rolled forward. Minhyuk was keeping his arms up a bit to balance himself. As the speed faded away, he stepped off and turned around back to Hoseok who was standing there, arms crossed around his chest.

"How do you work this thing?" Minhyuk asked, doing the same thing again but to a different direction. Hoseok thought he seemed so clumsy and wondered, if he had looked like that on his first time. It was embarrassing.

"You need practice. And patience, which you don't have," Hoseok said and put his foot in front of the board to stop it. Minhyuk stumbled off as his ride suddenly came to a dead end.

"Damn right I don't. What the fuck is taking that pig so long," he cursed and looked towards the road to see if his friend was coming. Minhyuk continued looking around even though it was already clear that Byungchul was nowhere near. Suddenly he turned back to Hoseok and leaned close to whisper: "Is Hyungwon trying to bang?"

"Bang what?" Hoseok acted clueless and he truly was.

"Bang you," Minhyuk tilted his head with questioning look. "I saw you talking to him. He wouldn't if he wasn't after your ass." Hoseok looked over Minhyuk's shoulder to Hyungwon, who had sitting on top of the ramp with Changkyun but was now walking towards them. Hoseok tried to be expressionless so Minhyuk wouldn't notice something was up.

"What the fuck..."

"Don't tell me it already happened," Minhyuk then suddenly gasped and put a hand in front of his mouth. Hoseok shook his head no. "Thank god. Even the thought makes me disgusted."

"What makes you disgusted," a voice said right next to Minhyuk's ear. The blond turned his head a bit to see who it was and jumped when he met eyes with Hyungwon.

"Hi Hyungwon," Minhyuk said after gathering himself and swallowing the terrifying surprise he experienced.

"Hi," Hyungwon gave him a really fake and forced eye smile. "Now go."

"Oh, Byungchul is coming," Minhyuk said and quickly walked away to where his bike was. Hyungwon looked after him, seeming to be really amused about his influence. Hoseok let out a heavy sigh.


	13. Chapter 13

On the night between Monday and Sunday, Hoseok didn't sleep well for some reason. His mind kept wandering in different things and he just couldn't get his head straight. He thought about Hyungwon, the thing he had agreed on, Minhyuk, Jooheon and other pointless things. After a good four hours of sleep he woke up and got to school, looking almost as dead as he felt.

Regardless of being half-awake and not having strength to do anything, he skipped the bus, not wanting to listen to Minhyuk and Byungchul to make his morning even worse, and took his bike. He knew he was going to be late from school but he still cycled peacefully, hood covering his head to protect him from the small breeze of cold morning air.

No one paid much attention to him when he arrived to class late. The teacher sighed and took out her notebook to mark down how many minutes Hoseok had been late. Jooheon turned to look at him with a questioning expression on his face. Hoseok just walked to his seat and sat down, putting his backpack on his desk so he could sleep against it.

During the break Hoseok decided to go catch some fresh air instead of rotting in the classroom. He took his cigarette pack from his backpack - he had began to smoke more often lately - and headed to his usual place behind the dumpsters. He was carrying his skateboard in the other hand.

When he got closer, he heard that someone else was there already. He wondered if he should not go there and head back to class but then he recognized the voices. There was high pitched laughing - Jooheon.

"Ion believe you'd be able to pull it off" - Gallagher.

"Come on, if it's about Jooheon and girls, anything is possible" - Changkyun.

"Hoseok, you're here" - Jooheon again.

"What are you doing here?" Hoseok asked as got the courage to step to them. Jooheon and Changkyun were sitting on top of one of the dumpsters, the top bending under their weight. Gingerboy was standing in front of them with a cigarette on his hand. He snatched the skateboard from Hoseok.

"We wanted to keep you company," he said and got on top of the skateboard, skating a meter to the other direction before jumping and trying to flip the board around under his feet with not much success.

"I wasn't sure if you would show up because you slept the whole class," Jooheon told. Hoseok caught his skateboard with his feet when it rolled back to him. "The teacher woke him up twice," he then said to the two others. Hoseok felt a bit ashamed but he couldn't help it that he was tired.

"Have you slept?" Changkyun asked but Hoseok was busy lighting up his cigarette to answer. He just nodded his head.

"Is everybody coming to the park today?" Gingerboy asked after failing to do the trick with Hoseok's board for the second time already. Hoseok had climbed up to with with Jooheon and Changkyun because apparently he was not getting to skate for now.

"I am," he said even though it was no question for him since he was at the park every day.

"We are," Jooheon answered. "Yoonsun and Kihyun will probably be there too, same with Lee Sang and Jennie."

"Why are you asking?" Changkyun asked. Gingerboy turned around with the skateboard and came back to them. "I thought you had plans with Hyunwoo?"

"Well I had," Gingerboy sounded annoyed to say that. He kicked the board up and took a last drag of his cigarette before throwing it to the ground. "He is sick. Got a fever last night and I don't want to catch whatever he has."

"Again? This is the third time he is sick in the past month," Jooheon scratched his temple. "What is wrong with him?"

"No idea," Gingerboy shrugged. 

"Back to the main character," Jooheon suddenly said and turned to look at Hoseok.

"What?" Hoseok raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"I wanted to ask this yesterday but since Hyungwon never left-" Hyungwon had been at the park with Hoseok until everyone else was gone. "Tell us about you and Hyungwon. What happened after you two went home from Hyunwoo's place?"

"Why are you so curious," Hoseok muttered and noticed that Gingerboy, who had been focusing on skateboarding, was now looking at him too.

"Since everyone knows Hyungwon is interested in you, we all just want to know how serious shit you have gotten yourself into."

"We played Playstation and I drank a lot so I don't remember much else," Hoseok confessed bluntly and noticed Jooheon and Changkyun giving looks to each other. "But you can stop that suggestive talk since I'm not interested in him to begin with."

"Yeah, I believe Hoseok has denied that nothing more is going to happen with him and Hyungwon enough times already," Gingerboy said and Hoseok was grateful to him at that moment. "Y'all trynna assume he is gay and shit too."

"Well excuse me for being curious," Jooheon snapped back to Gingerboy with a bit annoyed tone and Hoseok wondered if there was still some quarrel between the two.

Gingerboy gave Hoseok back his skateboard. "See you guys at the park. I'm goin' back to class," he said and walked away with hands in his pockets.

"Yah, don't bully Ginger. He is probably pissed because he can't hang out with Hyunwoo," Changkyun joked about their red-haired friend and hit Jooheon on his thigh.

-

After school ended, Hoseok was the first one to leave. He saw Jooheon walking towards where Changkyun's class was but didn't bother waiting for them and just left to the park with his bike on his own.

Yoonsun and Kihyun were already there when he arrived and the third figure, who was skating around with Yoonsun, Hoseok recognized to be Hyungwon.

"Hi, Hoseok," Kihyun greeted him from the bench. Hoseok sat next to him and leaned down to tie his shoelaces that had been loosened. "You don't look so good today."

"When do I ever," Hoseok joked and stopped tying his laces to look at Kihyun with a grin on his face.

"Don't say that. You're the best looking around here even when you look dead like you do now," Kihyun sighed. Hoseok was done with his laces so he sat up straight again and took his skateboard from behind his back.

Hoseok stepped his board to move and lifted his other leg on top of it too. He curved around Yoonsun and headed towards the ramp Hyungwon was sitting on top of, pretending to be doing something to the trunks of his skateboard. He had stopped skating for a sec just so Hoseok would possibly come to him and they could talk - when they were both skating it was less likely.

"What are you doing here at this time?" Hoseok asked when he reached to the top and turned around in few movements to go back down. "Don't you have school?" he stopped on the flat in the bottom of the ramp and turned to face Hyungwon.

"I have but I'm not there," Hyungwon said and put his skateboard down next to him.

"Skipping? Why?"

"I just didn't feel like it today," he shrugged and Hoseok thought it was confusing because based on the amount of books laying around Hyungwon's room he would've thought that Hyungwon was a good student. "I will get good grades even with bad attendance."

"What a braggart," Hoseok muttered and continued his way down from the flat and then towards the ramp in the opposite direction. Hyungwon followed him in a few seconds later.

"Want to hang out with me today?" he asked, following Hoseok few meters behind. Hoseok went from the left side of a rail and Hyungwon jumped on top of it, grinding on it all the way to the end.

"We are already hanging out," Hoseok answered and without really even focusing, managed to do an ollie.

"I mean in my place. You have midterms coming up. I can help you with any subject," Hyungwon innocently tried to suggest but Hoseok only rolled his eyes and looked at Hyungwon from the corner of his eye.

"It's September. Midterms are not even near," Hoseok turned his skateboard around and started going to the other way. Hyungwon groaned at himself for not thinking about that before he made the suggestion. Then he did what Hoseok had and followed the guy. "Besides how do you know I'm bad at school?"

"So you are?"

"I am... Or I could be good I just don't need to care about school because I don't have a future," Hoseok said and glanced over his shoulder to see if Hyungwon was behind him.

"Then why not drop out?"

"I have parents you know."

Hyungwon didn't know how to continue no more because Hoseok always had an objection to everything he said. Hoseok saw Jooheon and Changkyun arriving to the park with a BMX and a skateboard in the same way they usually did. He raised his hand for a second to greet them.

"I have to go home today though," he said after a while because for some reason, he kind of wanted Hyungwon to continue what he was doing - meaning trying to hang out with Hoseok. "I have been out late for two weeks in a row and my parents are not happy with that."

"Well we could go to your place," Hyungwon did what Hoseok had expected him to do and kept on with his suggestions. "We have always been at my house. I don't even know where you live."

Hoseok stopped his skateboard and turned around to look at Hyungwon. He seemed to be thinking. "I-," he managed to start before he heard someone call him by his nickname from the other direction. "Gallagher, my man!" he shouted back to the ginger that went next to the bench. Hoseok started to head towards him.

"Gallagher..." Hyungwon muttered to himself, getting mad at Gingerboy for having to arrive at that moment when he had just been about to get an answer from Hoseok.

Hoseok sat next to Gingerboy on the bench and started digging for a Red Bull from his backpack - he had gotten really addicted to it lately and the only one you could blame for it was Ginger. "What took you so long to come?" he asked.

"I had to meet up with someone to get something," Gingerboy said, being really secretive in Hoseok's eyes. He reached to his snapback to take something from under it. Hoseok recognized it straight away.

"You smoking weed now too?" Hoseok asked, looking at the joint in Gingerboy's hand with a surprised expression. Ginger put the joint to his lips and took a lighter from his pockets.

"What do you mean now?"

"Man, Gingerboy, I thought you quit that already," Kihyun sighed from the other side of Gingerboy. He had a displeased look on his face. "You're lucky that Hyunwoo is not here. He would skin you."

"Don't tell him," Gingerboy said and lighted up the weed. He put his lighter back before taking the joint from his lips and letting out a puff of smoke. "He thinks I only smoke cigarettes."

"Damn right I will tell him," Hoseok tried to sound threatening but it didn't work on Ginger. He knew Hoseok wouldn't betray him. Hyungwon came to them and sat next to Hoseok, really close to him because there was not much more space on the bench.

"Gunhee was nice enough to roll those for you too?" he teased Gingerboy who didn't seem to be bothered even though it was Hyungwon.

Jooheon and Changkyun were sitting on top of the ramp and fooling around. Yoonsun, who was tired of skateboarding alone, came to them. Because there were no more room, she had to sit on Kihyun's lap. She tried to reach to take the joint from Gingerboy but Kihyun slapped her hand before she could.

"You're not smoking that," Kihyun said and Yoonsun looked at him with a pout, caressing the spot on her hand Kihyun had hit - he hadn't intended to hurt her but she wanted to play victim. "Sorry," he apologized anyways. Yoonsun muttered something quietly, not wanting to start a fight with Kihyun on public. She knew Kihyun was right, though. Her mother would smell it on her if she even touched a cigarette, let alone weed, and it wouldn't end well for her if her father got to hear about it.

"Why did you leave me on read," Hyungwon suddenly asked from Hoseok who didn't understand what he meant because it came so suddenly.

"What?" he stuttered, trying to think if Hyungwon had messaged him recently.

"Just a moment ago," Hyungwon tried to make it more clear what he meant. "I asked if we can hang out at your place but you never answered."

"Oh, right..."

"So?"

"Whatever," Hoseok raised his shoulders a bit and looked away. He just couldn't get the word 'no' out of his mouth and saying 'yes' would have felt too wrong.

Jooheon and Changkyun's hands were bleeding when they finally came to where all the others were. Everybody noticed it but no one asked a thing as if it was normal. Hoseok was curious and Kihyun had that same disappointed look on his face he had had when Gingerboy pulled out that weed.

"Is that empty already?" Jooheon pointed at the can on Hoseok's hand. Hoseok shook it and answered that it almost was. "Drink it quickly, we need it for something."

"Where do you need it?" Hoseok asked, feeling like he was the only one who was not aware of what the two of them were doing.

"We have this fun game where you have to destroy the can with your fist," Jooheon explained. Hoseok looked at their fists again and suddenly he was interested.

"Can I play too?"

"If you have more cans," Changkyun said and Hoseok reached to his backpack to take out two more cans of Red Bull. He gave them to Changkyun who opened both of them and then went few meters away from the others to pour all the liquid to the ground.

The four guys - Gingerboy wanted to join too - sat on the ground in front of the bench. Yoonsun immediately moved from Kihyun's lap to sit on the bench. Changkyun gave one can to Hoseok, one to Gingerboy and kept the third one for him and Jooheon.

"What do I gotta do?" Gingerboy asked because he was also unfamiliar with the game.

"First hit here-" Jooheon demonstrated with his own can, putting it on the ground and placing the outer part of his palm on top of it, not actually hitting the can yet though. "- until you can split it in half. Then after that-" he turned the can around. "- hit on the cut part until you have bent in all the edges."

Hoseok followed the detailed guide with his eyes glued at the can in Jooheon's hand. He could already feel the thrill even though they hadn't began yet.

"Fuck, that sounds painful," Gingerboy hissed and dumped what was left of his joint to the ground.

"This is not for pussies, Ginger."

"Are you calling me a pussy?" he suddenly raised his voice and his eyebrows came closer to one another while he squinted his eyes.

"I'm not, I'm not," Jooheon quickly saved himself. "Do you want to go or do I?" he then asked from Changkyun.

"You can go. My hand is already too sore," Changkyun said and showed off the side of his palm that had some bleeding cuts on it.

Jooheon set his can in front of him to lay on its side. "Are you ready?" he asked and then they started the game.

All three of them hit their cans until they could rip top and bottom apart and set them to the ground to hit in the edges. Hoseok was a bit faster than the others and he seemed to be confident even though he had never played this game before.

"I can't do this anymore, my hand is too sore," Jooheon gave up before he was even able to hit the edges once. His hand came in contact with the can two times but he couldn't do it with strength and his brain made his hand slow down when he tried to hit. Hoseok glanced at him quickly and then continued hitting his own can. He heard Gingerboy complaining about how it hurt. He seemed to be hesitating but kept going anyways.

"Yah! How are you that good?" he laughed, desperately trying to bend one part of the edge while Hoseok was already halfway done. "Ow, it hurts too..." he complained slowly and continued, trying to get the edges bent without pressing a lot so his hand wouldn't hurt that much.

Hoseok just shrugged and hit the last sharp edges of his can, making them bend until they were flat. The metal cut the skin of his palm and when he kept going and the same, already wounded parts came in contact with the can over and over again, he couldn't help but feel a bit weird in his guts.

As soon as he was done, Hyungwon grabbed his hand so he couldn't continue.

"Woah... You are just bold," Jooheon said with his mouth still hanging open after being amazed by Hoseok's performance.


	14. Chapter 14

After the violent can-hitting game was over, Hoseok wanted to skate around the park for a few times before he and Hyungwon would leave. Hyungwon waited for him next to his bike.

"Are you really going to come? You know I live really far..." Hoseok questioned when he was finally ready to leave and got on top of his bike, putting the skateboard behind his back.

"Yeah, yeah," Hyungwon just nodded and already had one feet on top of his skateboard, wondering why Hoseok seemed to hesitate and be slow on purpose.

"Also I don't have FIFA so there is nothing really for us to play..."

"Are you acting like this because you want to go to my place instead?" Hyungwon asked.

"No... Or well, I don't want to take you to my house either," Hoseok admitted. He really didn't want his parents to see Hyungwon and then ask thousands of questions. He was also afraid that Hyungwon wouldn't leave before night and they would be forced to share bed because Hoseok didn't have a couch.

"Sure," Hyungwon just shrugged, hiding his excitement about Hoseok's answer well. It was like killing two birds with one stone. He could tease his parents and hang out with Hoseok at the same time. "Let's go then."

"Bye Ho'," Gingerboy waved at him when he noticed that he was about to leave. The redhead himself was still sitting on the ground and trying to finish the can mission, not understanding how did Hoseok get through it so easily.

Hoseok waved back at him and then left with Hyungwon. He was riding his bike without hands and Hyungwon saw some blood dropping from the wounds in his palm. He shook his head and let out a sigh. "You really are something," he muttered to himself and looked away.

After seeing Hoseok not even reacting to the pain hitting that can had caused, Hyungwon had gotten a bit worried about the guy's self-destructiveness and was now keeping an eye on him more closely.

They got to Hyungwon's place and went in from the main door instead of Hyungwon's own. Hoseok wondered if it was because Hyungwon didn't have keys or something and inside his mind he couldn't stop suspicious about everything Hyungwon did. He had to be on the edge at all times because he never knew when Hyungwon would pull off something weird again and kiss him or something - even though the fact that Hoseok was constantly thinking about Hyungwon kissing him told something about himself too.

Hyungwon noticed Hoseok looking suspicious as they walked through the hallways to the living room. "If you're scared of my parents then don't worry, they are not home yet," he said and jumped to lay on one of the couches.

"I'm not scared of your parents," Hoseok said when he sat in the other end of that couch.

"Don't lie, everyone is scared of my parents but it's okay. I would be too if they weren't my parents," Hyungwon leaned his back on the armrest and reached to take the remote. He turned on the big ass television on the wall and some variety show with middle-aged guys sitting in a classroom came on. Hoseok looked at it for a while and then turned to Hyungwon.

"I notice you are not if you do things they hate on purpose," he said and looked at the TV again, not really caring about the program there but didn't want to stare at Hyungwon either.

"They couldn't hurt me in any way so I don't have a reason to be afraid of them."

"You sure about that?" Hoseok glanced at him again.

"Yeah. Why do you act like you have been hurt by your parents or something?" Hyungwon questioned. Hoseok looked at him for a while and then let out a snort.

"I'm not scared at my own parents either. They are so old," he said nonchalantly and Hyungwon smiled widely. Hoseok turned his head away towards the television again as soon as he saw it. "Also don't smile like that. I might start to like you if you do."

"Is that from a drama or something?" Hyungwon laughed and extended his feet to Hoseok's lap. "I swear I have heard it before."

"Yes... And it was just a joke so don't start to think anything," Hoseok muttered awkwardly, cursing at himself inside his mind that he had let out something like that.

"Well I wouldn't mind if you started to like me for real," Hyungwon shrugged and Hoseok bit his lip, trying to not show any reaction. It was quiet for a while and Hoseok tried to pretend he was really interested in the variety show that came from the television. "You're staining out couch," Hyungwon suddenly said.

Hoseok looked down to see that his hand had gotten some blood on the couch. It was barely visible in the black leather but suddenly Hoseok was scared of Hyungwon's parents again. "Sorry," he said and tried wiping it with his sleeve.

Hyungwon took his feet off of Hoseok's lap and slide towards him to sit right next to him. He took the tail of the t-shirt he was wearing and grabbed Hoseok's hand. He started rubbing his shirt gently against it to clean it from all the blood. The white fabric of his shirt turned crimson red.

"You know you could have just gotten some tissues," Hoseok said, feeling the cringe caused by Hyungwon's cheesy action.

"You know I'm sometimes really lazy," Hyungwon said and raised Hoseok's hand up to look at it closely to see if it was still bleeding.

"M-hm."

They heard a front door opening and closing. Hyungwon turned to look at the direction and when he turned back to Hoseok, he had a mischievous smile on his face. "You're gonna play along?" he asked and Hoseok didn't know what he was on about so just nodded quickly.

Hyungwon grabbed his legs and pulled them beneath him so that Hoseok was laying on the couch on his back. Hyungwon took Hoseok's hand - the wounded and still a bit bloody one - and put it behind his back because he knew Hoseok was too shy to do it himself. He came on top of Hoseok and as there were footsteps coming from the hallway, he pressed his open lips against Hoseok's, starting to kiss him passionately, making it seem like they had been on it for a while already.

Hoseok didn't even think about if he should kiss back and just did it automatically, putting his other hand behind Hyungwon's back too to keep the guy close. As soon as they started, he forgot that they were only acting. He opened his mouth to let Hyungwon's tongue in but then tried to push it away with his own. Hyungwon wouldn't let himself being dominated in front of his parents and pressed Hoseok down from his chest and placed his other hand on Hoseok's jaw as his tongue fought its way in the other's mouth again.

Hoseok had never felt the way he did when Hyungwon suddenly grind his body down against his and their pelvises brushed against each other. He let out a mutter against Hyungwon's lips.

"Hyungwon," a stern voice of Hyungwon's mother brought Hoseok back to the ground of earth and he realized what he was doing. Hyungwon pulled away from Hoseok slowly and turned his head towards his parents standing in the hallway passing the living room. "Go to your own room," she said, her lips forming a straight line again and her jaw popping out as if she was biting her teeth together really hard.

Hyungwon got up from the couch and pulled Hoseok with him. He held Hoseok's hand and walked him past his parents towards the stairs that took them to his own room. Hoseok was red from embarrassment and he had to hide his face with his free hand.

When they got downstairs, Hyungwon finally let go of his hand. He got a proud smile on his face when he noticed how red Hoseok was as if his goal had been to make Hoseok uncomfortable instead of angering his parents.

"Thank you for cooperating," Hyungwon said and sat on his own couch, taking a Playstation controller to his hand by default. He didn't mention anything about Hoseok being surprisingly into the kiss that wasn't even supposed to be all that real but decided to keep his mouth shut because Hoseok seemed to be embarrassed enough already.

"Uhm... Do you have a smoke? I left my backpack upstairs," Hoseok asked because after what has just happened, he was really desperate to go outside and calm his nerves with a smoke or two. He felt even more awkward than he had ten minutes ago and he needed something to do to ease it.

"I don't smoke regularly so no but I will go get your stuff," Hyungwon stood back up and ran up the stairs. Hoseok sat on Hyungwon's bed to wait and scrolled through his phone in the meantime. Jooheon had sent dozen pictures he had taken at the park to the groupchat and there was also a close-up of Hoseok and Gingerboy playing the can hitting game and Ginger showing a middle finger to the camera. 

Hyungwon came back soon with Hoseok's backpack and shoes. Hoseok took his cigarette pack and went out from Hyungwon's door. He sat on the platform in front of the door and put one cigarette between his teeth to light it up. Hyungwon came to sit next to him. Hoseok offered him the pack but Hyungwon just shook his head.

"Do you have plans for this weekend?" Hyungwon asked, leaning his back against the door frame behind him.

"I don't know, it's only Monday," Hoseok said, letting out some smoke from his mouth as he spoke. "Why? Do you want to reserve me or something?"

Hyungwon shrugged but Hoseok didn't see it because he was facing forward. "You could come here. The others can come too if you want to hang out with them. I'll set up a party for them since that's the only thing they are in for."

"I wonder if they are too scared of you to come in your house."

"What do you mean? No one is scared of me," Hyungwon yelped and Hoseok was surprised that he didn't know how others felt about him.

"They are a bit though. It's because they don't know anything about you and whenever you are around, you don't talk much," Hoseok said and turned his head a bit over his shoulder to see if this really was news to Hyungwon.

"But here is a big house full of booze, I'm sure they will come if you ask them to."

"You really want a group of underage, wasted kids in your house?"

"I don't know," Hyungwon seemed to be having second thoughts after thinking more about what it would be like. "I might be busy this weekend."

"Yeah, I might be busy too..." Hoseok looked away again and focused on his smoke. He looked at it for a while and then decided to tap it against the concrete he was sitting on to get rid of some of the ashes.

"Really?"

"No," Hoseok snorted and brought the cigarette back to his lips. "I have no life besides skateboarding. I will either spend the whole weekend at the park or then go somewhere if the guys ask me to."

"If you are bored some day then just call me. I will make you time no matter where I am," Hyungwon said.

"I will never be bored enough to call you," Hoseok and looked at Hyungwon to see if he had made the guy sad. Hyungwon seemed to be pouting a bit but it was supposedly fake.

"Was that sarcasm or are you playing hard to get?"

"It was sarcasm," Hoseok let out a small laugh. He hadn't intend to be sarcastic but he didn't want Hyungwon to think that he was actually playing hard to get so he just had to admit it. He dumped the cigarette to the concrete and stood up. Hyungwon got up too and they went back inside.

Hoseok announced that he would have to leave soon but Hyungwon insisted on one game before that. For some reason, FIFA had became their go-to entertainment source and playing that was all they did whenever they hung out. Hoseok was glad that there was something like FIFA for them because without it, it would be really awkward between them since they weren't that much of a talkers.

The game ended with even result of both of them managing to score once. Hoseok got ready to leave. He knelt down to put his shoes on and as he tied his laces, Hyungwon stood next to him, leaning on the wall and waiting for him to be done so he could say goodbyes and such.

Hoseok took his backpack and lifted up his head to face Hyungwon. "What are you waiting for?" he asked when he came to the same level with the guy.

Hyungwon grabbed him from the collar of his hoodie and pulled him closer. He tilted his head a bit to give a kiss on Hoseok's cheek. When he let go of the guy with a smirk on his face, dumbfounded looking Hoseok pulled away a bit.

"W-what was that for? Your parents are not here?" he asked with a stutter.

"I know. I'm just making sure you're not trying to play hard to get after all," Hyungwon smiled and Hoseok felt embarrassed and annoyed at the same time.

"Are you asking to get hit?" he asked with gritted teeth before turning around and leaving Hyungwon standing on the doorway with a small smile on his face as he deeply sighed and looked after the blushing guy who was walking away from the house fast.


	15. Chapter 15

Hoseok had already been skating around the park for a while and doing few frontside ollies when Changkyun and Jooheon finally arrived. He didn't understand what always took them so long when the three of them usually got off from school at the same time. The truth was simply that they weren't in that big of a rush to the parks as Hoseok was. It's not that exaggerating to say that he was halfway out the classroom when teacher was only about to finish the class.

"For the last time, you're not buying a Thrasher, Jooheon," Changkyun said with a deep and slow voice and climbed up the ramp to sit on top of it.

"Why!" Jooheon mourned and came next to him. Hoseok, who was on the bottom of the ramp, moving his board up and down the curve with his foot, looked up to listen to their conversation.

"You don't even skate. Thrasher is skaters only," Changkyun explained like he had said the same thing ten times already.

"And who says so?" Jooheon was still protesting because he really wanted that Thrasher T-shirt he had been craving a long time already.

"Thrasher?" Hoseok questioned, trying to figure out what they were talking about.

"It's a brand skaters wear," Changkyun explained and Jooheon seemed to let out a deep sigh.

"Everybody wears Thrasher. It's not privileged for skaters only," Jooheon tried to talk some sense to Changkyun who wouldn't budge about the fact that only skaters were allowed to wear Thrasher - which obviously was not true, skaters just wanted to have something for themselves.

"Oh, Hoseok, what are you doing tomorrow?" Changkyun suddenly asked, ignoring Jooheon completely. Hoseok shrugged and got on top of his skateboard. He kicked the ground to get it to move slowly and switched his direction a bit to start going straight to the another direction. "We were thinking about doing something since it's Friday," Changkyun slid down the ramp and started walking after Hoseok.

"You know Jennie has a Thrasher shirt too and she never skates!" Jooheon yelled after him but Changkyun acted like he didn't listen. He knew it was dumb to be that persistent about something so simple as who gets to wear a certain brand but that didn't get him change his mind.

"So..." Changkyun started when he finally caught Hoseok. "Jooheon knows a place where some people are going tomorrow night. If you don't want to come with us then just say so but we can ask Kihyun and Ginger and the others too."

"I think I'll pass," Hoseok said awkwardly, thinking about how many unfamiliar people there would be if he went to some random person's party. The way Changkyun talked made it easy for Hoseok to reject the offer. He knew that if it had been Hyungwon who asked that, Hoseok wouldn't have been able to say anything else but okay.

"Alright," Changkyun said like he had almost been expecting to get that answer from Hoseok. "Just tell me if you change your mind. The people there are pretty nice and we will keep you company if you don't like them."

"Okay," Hoseok continued skating and Changkyun walked back to Jooheon who gave him a questioning look. Changkyun replied to him by shaking his head.

They recognized Kihyun's motorcycle by the sound. He had been putting a lot of work onto it and it was special. Everybody thought it was cool and when it came to motorcycles and pretty much any vehicle, Kihyun was the master.

Kihyun stopped his motorcycle next to the bench. Hoseok looked at his direction to see if Yoonsun had came too and was a bit confused to not see the girl sitting behind Kihyun like she usually did.

"Where is Yoonsun?" Jooheon asked before Hoseok could open his mouth. It was always a wonder when Kihyun showed up to the park without Yoonsun. He was always either following the girl around or at home working on his motorcycle.

"I don't know, I was hoping to see her here," Kihyun said and sat on the bench like he usually did.

"Hate to break it to you but she is not here," Jooheon said with a bit of humor in his voice. "You should know her whereabouts the best."

"I'm gonna hang around here for a while. Maybe she will show up," Kihyun said and leaned back, taking out his phone to scroll through and keep himself something to do.

"You're weird," Changkyun said and walked to where Jooheon was still sitting on top of the ramp.

"He is not weird, he is in love," Jooheon let out in a teasingly tone while sliding down the ramp and giving a long gaze to Kihyun.

"Yah!" Kihyun yelled and started running to their direction. Jooheon took his BMX that was laying next to the ramp. He quickly got on to get away from Kihyun.

Hoseok looked at them over his shoulder and laughed. Kihyun didn't run after Jooheon for long and stopped while Jooheon was still continuing his way, almost running over Hoseok when he was seeing if Kihyun still followed him.

Changkyun got on his skateboard and sped to Jooheon's direction. Kihyun walked back to the bench and Hoseok continued doing whatever he was doing - no one really payed enough attention to figure out what it was.

"Let's go?" Changkyun asked when he got to Jooheon who made a small circle because he couldn't stop.

"Already?"

"Yeah, it's almost four," Changkyun grabbed Jooheon's shoulder so he could just hang along while Jooheon rode his BMX. "See you tomorrow," he said to Hoseok who just raised his head to look at them but didn't say anything.

Hoseok glanced at Kihyun he had been left alone with and then continued skateboarding. Kihyun was really nice and all but when Hoseok was alone with him, he couldn't make up anything to talk about and it felt awkward. He hoped that someone else would come soon.

"I'm going to Yoonsun's house to see if she is there," Kihyun announced and Hoseok was almost glad to hear it even though wasn't specially waiting for Kihyun to leave. "We might come back here if I find her."

"It's fine," Hoseok said and waved his hand. A while later he heard Kihyun's motorcycle starting with a loud sound and Kihyun driving away.

Hoseok was left alone and although he liked sometimes being on his own and got anxious if he was surrounded by people he didn't know - which was one of the many reasons going to the skate park had been a big step for him - he still wanted company. He had learned to know some of the usual people from the parks and even felt like he was a friend to them. Skateboarding wasn't the only thing he liked at the parks, it was also the people there.

He didn't know who to invite since everyone seemed to be busy except Lee Sang and Jen but he didn't know them that well. Jen was really nice and had a good humor but Lee Sang she was always with wasn't really that talkative and Hoseok had a feeling he didn't really care about other people.

"'If you're bored some day then just call me'," Hyungwon's words suddenly came to his mind. He shook away the thought quickly. Even if he wanted to, he would never have the courage to message or call Hyungwon.

-

An hour or more later he was laying on his back on top of a ramp and staring at the sky. His skateboard was on the bottom because it had dropped at some point and Hoseok was too lazy to pick it up so he just decided to let it stay there since there was no one who it would bother.

He had a burning cigarette on his hand and every now and then he brought it to his lips to inhale the smoke in his lungs and then let it out a bit later, a puff of smoke forming on top of him.

He was so deep in his thoughts he didn't notice someone coming until he heard the sound of skateboard's wheels running against the asphalt. He sat up quickly and turned his head to see Hyungwon skating towards the other ramp - the one with no person laying on top of it.

"Oh, you're alive," Hyungwon said when he turned around and noticed Hoseok sitting there.

"Yeah..." Hoseok muttered like it had been an unfortunate fact.

"I was passing by and you were laying there so motionless I had to come check," Hyungwon had a tone that made it seem like he was joking around - in reality he had had no idea who was the person sleeping on top of the ramp and he had just approached with the hopes that it was Hoseok.

Hoseok moved to sit on the edge of the ramp. He noticed that his board was missing and straight away realized that Hyungwon had taken it. For some reason Hyungwon rarely kept his own skateboard with him and always borrowed Hoseok's - even though he said it was shitty.

"Anyways, why are you alone here?" Hyungwon asked. He came up the ramp and sat next to Hoseok, holding the skateboard in his other hand.

"Well you kind of ruined my being alone by suddenly appearing here," Hoseok said, looking at Hyungwon from the corner of his eye.

"Thanks. That was my goal," Hyungwon snorted and snatched the cigarette Hoseok was just about to lift up.

"You said you don't smoke. Then why you always take them from me?" Hoseok asked and Hyungwon gave him back the cigarette.

"I can't help it if I see one," Hyungwon explained. "You're making me get into a lot of bad habits again."

"So it's my fault you can't control yourself?" Hoseok asked, bringing the cigarette to his lips one last time before pressing it against the concrete of the ramp.

"Where's the redhead?" Hyungwon quickly changed the subject away from his addictions.

"At the mall with some girl friends, why?" Hoseok told and took a short look at Hyungwon again.

"I was just wondering why are you not with him because you two seem to be really good friends."

"Nah... I haven't known him any longer than I have known you."

He wanted to think Gingerboy as his best friend but he was sure that the other guy didn't feel the same. Ginger had many friends he had known much longer than Hoseok and he probably preferred them over Hoseok, who was lame and awkward - or at least that was how he described himself.

Hyungwon put his arm behind Hoseok's shoulder and pulled him so close their faces almost touched. Hoseok couldn't look anywhere else but Hyungwon's eyes because the guy was so close.

"What are you doing?" Hoseok asked after Hyungwon had been staring at him like that for a while.

"I don't know," Hyungwon said and finally let go of Hoseok. He seemed to be a bit embarrassed himself too. He let Hoseok's skateboard roll to the bottom of the ramp and followed it. He started skating to the other direction and looked back at Hoseok while yelling, "You know it's really hard for me to not kiss you when you look like that."

"Shut up..." Hoseok hissed and looked around to see if there was anyone who could have heard that. He was relieved to not see anyone but his heart was still beating fast and he felt his cheeks getting hotter.

Hyungwon laughed. He skated back to where Hoseok was and when he got there, he ran up the ramp, leaned his hands against the edge and brought his face so close to Hoseok's again that Hoseok had to lean back.

Hyungwon slowly moved even closer while Hoseok leaned back at the same time. Hyungwon had a small smirk on his face and all Hoseok could think about was that what the hell was wrong with him.

"So, do you have plans for tomorrow?" Hyungwon pulled away after a while and continued speaking like he normally would. Hoseok felt the tension go from hundred to like twenty-five or something.

"Yeah. Changkyun asked me to come to some party with them," Hoseok answered, quickly making a decision to go to the party just to avoid having to hang out alone with Hyungwon.

"Oh..." Hyungwon tried his best to not sound as disappointed as he was but Hoseok noticed it anyways. "It's probably at Nahyun's. She has been talking about this for a month already."

"Nahyun? As in Jooheon's ex Nahyun?" Hoseok questioned after realizing why the name sounded really familiar.

"I didn't know they dated," Hyungwon said bluntly.

"Do you know Nahyun? Are you coming to the party too?"

"No, no," he quickly refused. "Me and her don't get along. She would probably throw me out if I came. I have just heard about the party from others."

"Wonder why," Hoseok muttered and looked away from Hyungwon to the road that went next to the park. His eyes followed a random car.

Hyungwon was skating around the park with Hoseok's skateboard and because Hoseok had nothing else to do but just watch, he took out another cigarette and lighted it up. He smoked for a while and decided to let Hyungwon use his board for a while before he would demand it back.

Hoseok got down from the ramp. He waited for Hyungwon to pass him and when he did, he moved in the way to force Hyungwon to stop. Hyungwon was quick to react and turned the skateboard just enough to not run into Hoseok.

"Hyungwon..." Hoseok complained and hoped that Hyungwon would take the hint and give him back his skateboard.

"Hoseok," Hyungwon started while he let the skateboard slow down and eventually stopped it. He kicked the board up and took it to his hand. "Come out with me next Monday. There is one place I want you to see," he walked to Hoseok.

Hoseok tried to take the skateboard from him but Hyungwon moved it away so Hoseok couldn't reach it. Hoseok let out a frustrated sound.

"Will you?"

"Fine, will you be less annoying," Hoseok muttered. Hyungwon handed him the skateboard. He put it on the ground and placed his foot on top of it.

"I will try my best," Hyungwon said with a smile. He walked a few steps backwards. "See you on Monday then," he turned around and started walking away from the park.

Hoseok looked after him and held back a smile even though it didn't even matter anymore now when no one was there to see it. "God, he is so irritating," he said to himself and started skating around the park. He was yet to realize that the more he thought Hyungwon was annoying, the more he was actually starting to like the guy.


	16. Chapter 16

"It's Friday!" Jooheon yelled when he arrived to the skate park around six and jumped on Hoseok's back, catching the skateboarding guy off guard and almost making him fall down. Hoseok lost his balance and Jooheon had to come off so the guy wouldn't fall.

"Chill a bit," Hoseok said and Jooheon came in front of him with an excited smile on his face. "Friday comes every week."

"Cheer up a bit," Jooheon hit him playfully on his chest.

"You're the only one who is that hyped up about this party because of Nahyun," Yoonsun said to Jooheon when she went around the two of them with her skateboard.

"I'm gonna get some head today," Jooheon sighed dreamily and looked somewhere afar. Yoonsun let out a snort.

"Head as in head or a hit to your head," she asked. Jooheon didn't snap out of his dreamland and just continued looking away.

"Man, I don't even care as long as it's Nahyun," he said. Hoseok and Yoonsun looked at each other and then continued skating in different directions, away from Jooheon. He had been crazy about Nahyun for months already. They dated some time ago and she had been the one to break up with Jooheon because he didn't seem interested enough. The truth was different, Jooheon was head over heels for her, he just didn't know how to show his feelings.

"Hyunwoo is not answering," Changkyun announced. "Should we go to his house to check if he is coming or not."

"Sure, we can get started there before going to the party," Jooheon said after finally waking up from his thoughts and walking to where Changkyun was.

Hoseok's skateboarding was interrupted again, this time by Yoonsun who suddenly wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Hoseok cad to crouch down and step off his skateboard because she was so short.

"You're coming too, right?" she asked trying to sound cute.

"I am, I am, let go of me," Hoseok said and tried to get Yoonsun's arm off but she wasn't yet letting go.

"Good, it wouldn't be fun without you," she finally took her arm off and started making her way to Kihyun who was already setting his motorcycle ready.

"I doubt that..." Hoseok muttered to himself. He picked his skateboard up and walked to the others. The three of them started going towards Hyunwoo's house by feet while Kihyun and Yoonsun were lazier and went there with a motorcycle.

When they arrived, they saw Hyungsoo playing in the street with Chan. It wasn't unusual to see them fooling around there and despite Hyunwoo telling him to play somewhere else many times, they never listened.

"Hi Soo," Jooheon greeted the kid when they walked over the street and passed the boys.

Hyungsoo only gave them a nod and continued going around the street with his scooter. After taking a longer route, Kihyun and Yoonsun arrived at the same time three walking boys did.

"Hyunwoo? You home?" Jooheon yelled first when they went in the house and started taking their shoes off.

"In the kitchen!" Hyunwoo called back even though that would have been the first place they would have checked even if he didn't tell them.

"Are you cooking?" Changkyun asked when he got to the kitchen and was greeted by a delicious smell of ramen. "We came to ask if you are going to Nahyun's with us."

"I'm coming. Gotta eat first though," Hyunwoo said and took out a few more packs of instant noodles. "Are you hungry? I can make more."

"Nah, we're fine," Jooheon said but Hyunwoo put more noodles in anyways.

"I'm a bit hungry..." Hoseok muttered and Changkyun let out a snort.

"There you go again, Jooheon," he sighed but Jooheon just shrugged slightly. Hyunwoo carried the pot, few chopsticks and bowls to the table and sat in between Hoseok and Kihyun.

"Go ahead and eat, all of you. You can't drink on an empty stomach," he took a bowl and put some delicious smelling, steaming ramen in it. Instead of starting to eat it, he gave it to Hoseok and grabbed another bowl for himself. Hoseok let out a small thanks and started eating the noodles.

"Are we leaving soon?" Gingerboy suddenly appeared to the kitchen doorway. His hair was messy like he had been sleeping and the lack of color in his face and dry lips revealed that he was sick.

"We? You're not going anywhere," Hyunwoo said and gave a bowl of ramen to the redhead sitting down in the end of the table.

"Shut up, I'm not skipping this party," Gingerboy was avoiding Hyunwoo's gaze and just ate the food calmly.

"You're sick."

"I'm not that sick," he raised his voice a bit and glared at Hyunwoo for a second. "I'm coming. The end."

After they were done eating, they left for the party. Kihyun left his motorcycle at Hyunwoo's place because he was planning on to drink too and wouldn't be able to drive. They were going to sleep at Jooheon's place with Changkyun - but without Jooheon if everything went well on that guy's part.

Nahyun lived just a ten minute walk away from Hyunwoo. Hoseok was surprised of how everyone lived so close except himself who took an hour to walk to the skate park.

"If someone wants to buy alcohol now is your chance," Jooheon suddenly took out a plastic bag from his backpack.

"Nah, I have already," Gingerboy patted the backpack Hyunwoo was carrying.

"Why you do this every time? You're so money hungry trying to sell booze to everyone," Hyunwoo said slightly shaking his head.

"How much?" Hoseok asked making everyone surprised. He didn't have any alcohol on his own and realized it only now. He didn't want to be the only sober one at the party but Jooheon was his hope now.

"Do you have cash? I owe twenty thousand won to someone so help me out and you can drink as much as you want," Jooheon answered after thinking a second and the others got even more surprised.

"What the fuck, why you always try to get hundreds from us but Hoseok gets it that cheap!" Yoonsun yelled. Hoseok took some money from his pocket and gave it to Jooheon who kissed it and then put it to his jeans.

-

The party was very crowded and Hoseok felt as anxious as he had predicted when the only people he knew were the skate park squad, Minhyuk and Byungchul - two of them just happened to always be there when something was going on.

He was sitting in a couch with Hyunwoo, Kihyun and some bottle he had taken from Jooheon's bag that gave him some comfort. They all had their eyes fixed on the people playing poker around the table in the middle of the living room -  at first Jooheon had suggested they would make it strip poker but the majority opposed his idea.

"Hoseok, join us," Gingerboy came to him after the game was over and sat on the edge of the couch, putting his arm behind Hoseok's back so he wouldn't fall.

"No thanks, you can play without me," Hoseok tried to deny his offer in a nice way and push Ginger away a bit. "And I don't think you should be that touchy. I don't want to get sick."

"You won't catch it that easily. It's not like I'm going to kiss you or anything," Ginger said and let go of Hoseok to move to sit on Hyunwoo's lap since Hoseok seemed to want his own space.

"Hoseok, I didn't know you are here too!" Minhyuk suddenly walked to him, letting out an obvious lie because they had been in the same room for a while already and it would have been impossible to not notice each other.

"Move," Byungchul said to Hoseok who shifted closer to Hyunwoo so the big guy could sit on the edge. Soon the precious personal space Gingerboy had gave to him was stolen by a guy two times the red haired one's size.

"I see you're still at this," Minhyuk said to Hoseok with gritted teeth and gave a dirty look to Gingerboy who answered to him with the same manner.

"Yeah," Hoseok muttered and looked up to Minhyuk standing in front of him.

Minhyuk seemed to think for a while and then leaned down, close to Hoseok's ear to whisper, "You know I heard Changkyun talking in class one day about how he doesn't like you hanging at the park because you are beginner and lame."

"That's bullshit," Gingerboy, who had happened to hear that since Minhyuk hadn't exactly been quiet, snapped.

"Good job trying to win Hoseok over but Changkyun would never," Yoonsun patted Minhyuk's shoulder and then went to sit on the couch in between Kihyun's legs. She had sneakily came behind Minhyuk earlier to listen.

"Yeah, yeah and you probably have daddy issues or something because you look like a dude," Minhyuk then said to Yoonsun whose mouth gasped open after she heard that. Hoseok saw Kihyun's hand forming into a fist and jaw clenching.

"How 'bout you? Is your dad troubles what made you such an asshole?" Gingerboy stood up for the girl, being the only one of them who wasn't afraid of that.

"Says someone who doesn't know his real dad and gets beaten by his foster parents," Minhyuk striked back and Byungchul gave him a fist bump.

It was no surprise to anyone - or maybe a bit to the poker players who weren't aware what was going on - to see Gingerboy's hand swinging to hit Minhyuk on the face. Minhyuk in the other hand was taken aback by the strong punch and almost hit himself on the table behind him but was able to keep his balance. He brought his hand to his lips to feel blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

"Oh shit," Hoseok heard Jooheon say and stand up from next to the table to see what was about to go down.

Minhyuk managed to hit back once but Gingerboy had him pinned against a wall soon enough. Hyunwoo was usually the one who stopped the redhead from fighting but now he was too mad at Minhyuk to do so.

Hoseok went to them straight away and tried to push Gingerboy away from Minhyuk, whose face already revealed that he had received a few hits. Regardless of that, he kept his mischievous smile and fought back.

"You stay away from this," Gingerboy growled and continued to throw punches, most of them landing on Hoseok's face instead of Minhyuk, who was already hiding himself behind Hoseok at this point.

Gingerboy kicked up with his knee and Hoseok suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. His body folded in half and allowed Ginger to hit Minhyuk again.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," he threatened but suddenly his arm couldn't reach Minhyuk anymore because Changkyun and Hyunwoo had both decided to act out at the same time and were now pulling Gingerboy away from Hyungwon.

Minhyuk leaned against the wall and seemed to be really pleased with himself, even after getting his ass kicked. Nahyun, the host of the party, looked shocked as if she had never seen a fight before.

"Are they trying to ruin my party," she muttered and drowned whatever was in the glass in front of her.

"I will deal with this, don't worry babe," Jooheon said calmly. He walked to the guy that was trying to get himself up from the ground after managing to breathe again. "Fucking hell, Hoseok. Why did you try to intervene." He helped Hoseok to stand up.

"Thanks Jooheon. I'm gonna go home now," Hoseok didn't dare to look at anyone. He just took his backpack and bottle from next to where he had been sitting and left. On his way out he tried to find Gingerboy in the room with his eyes but didn't see the guy anywhere even though both Hyunwoo and Changkyun were still there.

Hoseok started walking along the sidewalk away from Nahyun's house. He had the halfway finished bottle of liquor in his hand and the other hand was about to automatically find its way to his pocket to take out the pack of cigarettes. Hoseok stopped it because for some reason he didn't feel like smoking at all although his addiction was demanding a smoke.

After walking a while with no thoughts in his head, Hoseok realized he was on the street Hyungwon lived in. The next thing he knew he was standing in front of Hyungwon's door and knocked on it with the hand that was still holding a bottle.

He had to wait a moment before hearing steps coming closer and Hyungwon opening the door, shirtless and just in the middle of tying the laces of his sweatpants.

"Hoseok? What are you doing here? What happened?" Hyungwon asked and at first his tone was just surprised but after noticing Hoseok's beaten face and bleeding nose, it turned to worry.

"It's a long story. Are you alone?" Hoseok questioned. His voice cracked a bit as if he was about to cry - which he exactly wasn't - and he sniffled, wiping some of the blood away from under his nose, getting it smudged to his upper lip.

"I am, wait a sec," Hyungwon said and closed the door. Something in the way Hyungwon had been holding the door open just a small bit, not letting Hoseok see inside, was telling another story.

The door opened again and Hoseok could see a glimpse of a girl running up the stairs as he walked in. He tried to ignore the thoughts that came to his mind after seeing that. Hyungwon guided Hoseok by his shoulders to go sit on the bed. He took the bottle from Hoseok's hand and set it down on the table.

"I'm sorry to come here suddenly like this. You were probably in the middle of something," Hoseok apologized as Hyungwon came to sit next to him, putting a t-shirt on at the same time.

"It's okay, I wasn't doing anything," Hyungwon said and looked at Hoseok who was just staring down at his hands. "You can always come here whenever you like."

Hoseok wanted to say that he didn't want to feel like a burden to Hyungwon but couldn't, because saying anything about being burden would have made him feel like a burden - how complicated is that - so he just sat there quietly.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Hyungwon asked after a moment during which he had his eyes fixed at Hoseok's face the whole time.

"I was trying to stop a fight between Gingerboy and Minhyuk but Ginger wouldn't stop hitting even when I was in front of him," Hoseok tried to make it short, leaving out everything about what had caused the fight and how it had finally ended.

"That guy is so dangerous, seriously," Hyungwon sighed and finally looked away from Hoseok. "What a shame to that pretty face of yours."

After it had been silent for a while, Hyungwon suddenly heard a sniffle. At first he thought Hoseok's nose was still bleeding but then he realized the guy was crying. Hoseok sniffled again and Hyungwon put his arm around him.

"Shh, it's okay," Hyungwon whispered and pulled Hoseok closer to him so that Hoseok was leaning against him. He didn't really know how to react to someone crying next to him but some instinct inside of him seemed to take over.

"I wasn't supposed to cry but I can't help it," Hoseok sobbed silently and pushed himself away from Hyungwon because it was awkward.

"It's fine, just cry if you feel like it," Hyungwon pulled him back and put a hand behind Hoseok's head to run his fingers through the guy's hair that was starting to get a bit too long on the top.

Hoseok's extra sensitiveness might have been because he was a bit drunk and that was also what suddenly made him sleepy - from the few times he had drank he learned that he was the type to fall asleep when he was drunk - so he laid down on Hyungwon's bed. Hyungwon was laying there behind him, arm wrapped around Hoseok's waist. Hoseok could feel his breathing in the back of his neck.

"Hyungwon," Hoseok said at one point after he had wasn't teary anymore, kind of hoping that the other guy would be asleep already. As uncomfortable as it was to lay on the same bed with someone else, it didn't feel as disturbing with Hyungwon as it would have felt with basically anyone else.

"Mhm," Hyungwon let out a sign that he was still awake - or at least partly.

"I don't think this is a part of your _'let's make my parents angry together'_ thing anymore."

"You're quick to catch on."

Hoseok didn't say anything after that but inside his head he was having a rapid conversation with his inner self about how he felt at that moment. At some point he started to finally get adjusted to the thought of laying there so closely with Hyungwon and feel more comfortable.

Then his phone rang to stop both of them from falling asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

"Mm... Jooheon what is it?" Hoseok muttered as he answered the phone. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking like he had just woken up from a deep sleep. He was surprisingly sober already but it was probably because he hadn't drank that much.

"Gingerboy is missing," Jooheon spoke hastily and so loud Hoseok had to move his phone away from his ear for a bit.

"What do you mean he is missing?" Hoseok yelped and stood up from the bed. Hyungwon didn't have any glue of what was going on so he just stared at Hoseok with dumbfounded expression.

"I mean we can't find him. He left around the same time you did," Jooheon explained, still speaking really fast.

"Have you tried calling him?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? Of course we have called him but he is not picking up. Tell us if you see him, he is super drunk and Hyunwoo is about to go crazy out here," Jooheon finished and hung up.

"I gotta go," Hoseok said to Hyungwon who was still clueless.

"Why? What happened?" Hyungwon asked and got up from the bed to follow Hoseok to the door.

"Ginger is lost," Hoseok told on his way without bothering to even spare glance at Hyungwon behind him. He put on his shoes and took a Red Bull from his backpack.

"I'm coming with you," Hyungwon said and before Hoseok had a change to tell him anything, he had already put on his shoes and was ready to go.

"It's okay, I can go by myself," Hoseok tried. Hyungwon opened the door and motioned him to go first.

"Let's go," Hyungwon stepped outside after Hoseok and closed the door behind them. He took out his phone to see the time while they started walking along the street. "It's midnight. Do you have a plan? Are you gonna lure him out with Red Bull?"

"No. I'm just gonna give this to him if we find him," Hoseok put the can in his hoodie pocket. He was thinking really hard about where he should start looking for Gingerboy. He didn't know the guy well enough to have any idea of where he could have possibly went.

"He is too young to be this messed up," Hyungwon said as they walked towards the skate park. He seemed calm unlike Hoseok who was clearly filled with worry. It was no surprise because Hyungwon wasn't really friends with Ginger and he didn't really seem like the type to be easily worried anyways.

"Who?"

"Gingerboy. He goes through so much shit for a fifteen-year-old," Hyungwon suddenly sounded deep.

"Yeah..." Hoseok muttered, looking at the ground while he walked. "It's weird to hear you being this thoughtful."

"Is it? Why everybody has a feeling that I'm some sort of a heartless bastard?"

"You give off that kind of vibe."

"Hoseok!" Jooheon yelled when they got closer to the skate park. They headed there to meet Jooheon, Changkyun and Hyunwoo. "Kihyun and Yoonsun are driving around the town looking for him."

"Wait, I thought Kihyun was drinking tonight?" Hoseok furrowed his brows.

"Yoonsun is driving. She claims that she didn't drink but well..." Changkyun shrugged and then Hyunwoo's presence reminded them again about why they were there.

Hoseok sighed deeply and squatted on the ground. He pulled his hair and let out a frustrated groan. After thinking for a second, he looked back up to the others. "Me and Hyungwon will go towards the department store. Call if something happens," he got back up.

"Thanks for helping us," Hyunwoo said, sounding pretty normal compared to how much of a mess he looked like - Gingerboy was more precious to him than a little brother.

"It's fine. He is my friend too and I kinda feel at fault of this."

"It's not your fault, Hoseok," Changkyun told calmly. He was probably worried that Hoseok would be blaming himself if something happened to Gingerboy.

"Whatever, let's go," Hoseok turned away and hoped that Hyungwon was about to follow him because although he was going to go out looking for the missing guy by himself in the first place, right now he suddenly didn't feel like walking alone in the streets at midnight anymore.

"Oh! Is that him?" Changkyun suddenly let out and everyone turned to look at him. He was pointing to the other direction.

Before anyone else could react in any way, Hyunwoo was running towards the guy who was slowly approaching them. When he got there, he pulled Gingerboy into a tight hug so quickly that it almost swept the younger guy off his feet.

"That little punk," Jooheon muttered and started walking after Hyunwoo with his hands inside his pockets. The three others followed him. "Yo, Gingerboy! How dare you just run off like that?"

"Shh," Changkyun hissed and hit him in the shoulder. "Don't yell at him."

"Damn, Gallagher, you really succeeded in making us all worry," Hoseok said with a playful tone. He didn't know what else to say and he had to try to get rid of the tension between him and the guy somehow. Gingerboy wasn't saying anything and wouldn't even look to Hoseok's direction. "Come on, I'm not mad at you," Hoseok continued with a smile.

"You're not?" Gingerboy finally dared to look at him. Hoseok shook his head. "I'm sorry I ruined your face."

"It feels refreshing," Hoseok joked. Then he remembered the Red Bull he had picked for the guy. "I brought you this," he took it out from his pocket and gave it to Ginger.

"Thanks..."

"Well, now that we know you're alive and all, I'm gonna head back to Nahyun's for some... unfinished business," Jooheon said with confidence in his voice during the last part.

"Have fun," Gingerboy gave him a wink. Jooheon waved goodbye and started walking away. Changkyun ran after him a short time later.

Hoseok examined Gingerboy's face and even though he now knew that the guy was safe, he still couldn't help but worry just a bit. Ginger's face looked really bad with all the bruises and contusions and although he was smiling a little, acting all normal, Hoseok knew that he was hurting. He just always acted so tough.

"You have fun too," Ginger then said to Hoseok with even more suggestive tone than he had done to Jooheon. Hoseok gave him an angry glance to suggest him to shut his mouth because it was embarrassing. He turned around to walk away with Hyungwon while Gingerboy was left alone with his caretaker Hyunwoo.

Hoseok could feel that it was a bit awkward between him and Gingerboy but now there was a good reason behind it. A good fist fight along bros always changed their relationship - even though in this case it was merely Hoseok getting hit.

When they had gotten farther from the park, Hoseok let out a deep sigh he didn't know he had been holding and Hyungwon spoke, "Do you think Hyunwoo and Gingerboy have something going on in between them?"

"What?" Hoseok was so taken aback by Hyungwon's question that he stuttered and his eyebrows raised up. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't you see it?" Hyungwon asked. Hoseok shook his head no. "Maybe I'm just imagining it. I better not mention this around Gingerboy or he will beat my ass."

"Damn right you're imagining it," Hoseok snorted. "And why do you always assume everyone is not straight?"

"I'm just trusting my instinct. My gaydar was right about you too."

"What do you mean? I'm not gay," Hoseok said quickly. He felt his cheeks heating up for some reason and tried to hide it by looking away from Hyungwon.

"The way you let me cuddle you tonight tells me something else," Hyungwon joked and Hoseok revealed his reddish cheeks by giving him a deadly stare.

"I was drunk. Why are you always teasing me," Hoseok complained, looking forward again to hide his deepening blush.

"If you were drunk then can you remember what I said?"

"What did you say?"

"About how much I like you," Hyungwon lowered his voice a bit and Hoseok couldn't figure out if it was still teasing because he sounded much more serious.

"You never said that," Hoseok said, getting confused because he didn't remember Hyungwon saying anything like that.

"So you weren't that drunk?"

Hoseok glanced at Hyungwon when he realized that the guy had indeed been teasing him again. Hyungwon seemed to be confident and Hoseok just looked away, letting out a sigh to express his irritation.

"I'm serious though," Hyungwon started again after it had been silent for a while. "I like you. I believe you have already heard it a few times."

They stopped walking and Hoseok stared at Hyungwon for a while. "How do you expect me to believe that?"

"Does it sound that unbelievable?"

"It does, judging from that girl you were having sex with when I knocked on your door," Hoseok said with a stern tone, miraculously gathering confidence to talk back to Hyungwon.

"That's-," Hyungwon's voice choked and suddenly that small smile had faded away from his lips. With Hoseok giving him that cold stare, he suddenly seemed small and insecure. He didn't know Hoseok had seen that girl and he felt like he had been caught cheating.

"Not what I think?" Hoseok finished the sentence for him. "I think it's exactly what I think."

"Look, Hoseok, me liking you doesn't mean I can't have one night stands," Hyungwon started to explain but Hoseok's stare didn't get any softer.

Hoseok stayed silent and waited for Hyungwon to continue. He was at loss of arguments as soon as they started. He crossed his arms above his chest.

"Since I know you're not going to sleep with me, I need to fulfill my needs with someone else."

"Then why did you tell me you were alone when you were just inside some random girl?" Hoseok raised his voice even though the subject made him somewhat embarrassed.

"Because I would rather hang out with you than any girl," although he was worried of not being able to get Hoseok to forgive him, Hyungwon stayed calm.

"Whatever," Hoseok muttered and started walking away fast. He didn't know why he was so mad at Hyungwon, whose relationships shouldn't be none of his business, but he couldn't ease his feelings.

"Why the hell you even care who I fuck? You're not interested in me!" Hyungwon yelled after him to make the situation better but his choice of words wasn't exactly the right one. "Hoseok! Where are you going?" he had to run a few steps to catch Hoseok.

"I'm going home," Hoseok told, not slowing down his fast walk even though Hyungwon had troubles trying to keep up with him.

"Why? I said you can sleep at my place."

"I just want to go home," he said. He sounded emotionless and worry woke up inside Hyungwon again.

"By feet? Don't you live really far," Hyungwon grabbed him by his bicep and Hoseok had to stop walking.

"Yes."

"Come with me. I'll take you with a car." Hyungwon started off by asking nicely.

"I can walk," Hoseok tried to get away from Hyungwon who was still holding him.

"Let's go," Hyungwon pulled him to the other direction. Hoseok felt tired so he didn't resist anymore and just followed, yanking his arm away from Hyungwon first.

Hoseok wanted to say something about how he didn't even know Hyungwon had a car but couldn't open his mouth. They arrived to Hyungwon's house after a short walk. Hyungwon led him to the garage and told him to wait there while he ran to the house.

Either Hoseok was really inpatient or Hyungwon was taking long but after what seemed like ten minutes, Hyungwon finally came back, holding Hoseok's backpack - which Hoseok totally would have forgotten without Hyungwon bringing it to him - in his other hand and car keys in the other. He lifted the keys up to show them off to Hoseok with a smile on his face and threw the backpack to the owner who barely caught it.

"Get in," Hyungwon said and pointed the fancy Audi Hoseok was standing next to. "It's my dad's car if you're wondering. He doesn't know I drive it," he told, making Hoseok have second thoughts about letting Hyungwon drive him. He stepped in the car anyways, it wasn't like he had a change and besides, he really wanted to go home and sleep on his own bed as soon as possible.

Hyungwon backed off from the garage to the road and started driving. He was driving pretty fast and not being all that easy on the gas. Hoseok gave him a scared look.

"Don't worry, I know how to drive," Hyungwon assured after noticing his worry. "Also would you tell me where to go since I don't know where you live."

"Turn left from the lights," Hoseok said, his voice quiet and kind of coarse at first.

Hyungwon turned left. The awkward car drive that contained nothing but silence and Hoseok occasionally telling when to turn - seriously, there was not even radio - felt like forever but then the car finally pulled in front of Hoseok's house.

Hoseok got out the car and closed the door without even saying bye. He walked to the house. Hyungwon didn't leave until he saw Hoseok getting inside.


	18. Chapter 18

After taking Hoseok home, Hyungwon didn't see him for a while. On Wednesday, three days later, he decided to go to the park in the hopes of seeing Hoseok. It was almost certain that Hoseok would be there because there hadn't been a time Hyungwon would pass the park without seeing Hoseok.

In contrast to the sunny days it had been on the week before, the weather now was cloudy and a bit windy. Hyungwon wasn't sure if it was going to rain but it seemed like it.

As he got closer to the park, he noticed that there was many people which was odd if it really was going to rain - Changkyun always made sure everyone was aware of the weather forecast so usually no one went to the parks in a rainy day. Among those many people at the park, none of them seemed to be Hoseok.

"Is it really Hyungwon?" Jooheon yelled when he noticed the approaching guy. When Hyungwon stepped on top of his skateboard and started skating around the park, Jooheon followed him with his BMX.

"If you're looking for Hoseok he is not here," Changkyun said from on top of one ramp.

"How did you know?" Hyungwon asked and turned to his direction.

"It's obvious because he is the only reason you ever show up here lately," Changkyun slid down the ramp and grabbed his skateboard. He skated past Hyungwon who continued his way to the top of the ramp but failed to get there properly as if he wasn't really focusing.

"We haven't seen Hoseok since Friday so I think you should look somewhere else," Kihyun said from the bench.

"Gingerboy hasn't been here in a while either," Hyunwoo then joined the conversation from the other side of the park where he was fixing his scoot. "Maybe they are together somewhere."

Hyungwon looked to his direction and thought for a while. "Can you call him?" he asked. Hyunwoo started looking for his phone and Hyungwon went to him to join the phone call. He felt weird how matey everyone was being with him although Hoseok always kept saying about how everyone was afraid of him because he was so unapproachable. He had been around longer than anyone else but no one used to ever talk to him until now.

Hyunwoo put his phone on speaker and held it in front of him. Hyungwon knelt down next to him. Gingerboy picked up after five rings.

"What?" his nice way of answering the phone came through the speaker.

"Hey Ginger," Hyunwoo started. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the mall with Minjae and Sumin. Why?" Gingerboy said and a high-pitched laugh of a girl backed up his story - well, why would he lie anyways.

"You don't happen to be with Hoseok?"

"No," Gingerboy's voice was a bit uncertain. There was some laughs again and they could heard Gingerboy talking to someone else. He didn't seem to be that focused on the phone call.

"Gallagher," Hyungwon then interrupted and the background noises of the phone call faded away as Gingerboy was listening again. Hearing the nickname Hoseok usually used caught his attention. "Have you seen Hoseok at all since Friday?"

"Is Hyungwon there?" Gingerboy asked from Hyunwoo.

"Just answer the question," Hyungwon suddenly sounded much more stern as he had before.

"No. I haven't. I tried calling him one day but he didn't answer."

Hyungwon stood up and walked away. Hyunwoo finished the call and continued to fix his scoot. As he stepped on his skateboard again and thought about leaving, he suddenly paid attention to Minhyuk and Byungchul who had appeared there and were now sitting next to anguished looking Kihyun.

"You!" Hyungwon shouted at them - especially Minhyuk - while getting closer to them. "I need to talk to you."

"But do I need to talk to you?" Minhyuk tried to be clever but it was clear that Hyungwon and Kihyun's dirty looks to him were subduing him.

"Don't be sassy and listen up," Hyungwon snapped. He stood in front of Minhyuk who had to look up to see his face. "Have you seen Hoseok lately?"

"No but if he has disappeared then I know where he is," Minhyuk said and leaned back on the bench with a confident look and smirk on his face.

"Where?" Hyungwon asked quickly, looking like he was ready to grab Minhyuk by the collar any second.

"It was just a matter of time. I'm surprised it took him this long," Byungchul said and he and Minhyuk exchanged looks. "This time it was what... three weeks?"

"Tell me!" Hyungwon yelled and Minhyuk quickly turned to look at him, trying to hide the fact that he got a bit startled.

"I can't tell you much because Hoseok is our friend and I don't trust you but I'll give you a hint..." Minhyuk got quiet for a second and looked up to Hyungwon to see if he was looking. He took out his arm and then slowly drew his other hand across his wrist. Hyungwon immediately noticed what the guy was trying to tell by that action.

"Do you want to get hit?" Hyungwon raised his voice again and was about to raise his arm too but Minhyuk already escaped and hid behind the bench.

"You wanted to know," he poked his head out a bit to say that.

Hyungwon looked around for a while and thought about what he should do now. He breathed deeply to calm himself down a bit. Remembering how he had gotten worried about Hoseok's self-destructiveness after that can-hitting incident, hearing Minhyuk's words made his heart get a bit uneasy. "Kihyun. Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" Kihyun asked, looking relieved as if Hyungwon had just saved him from the awkward situation he was experiencing having to sit next to Byungchul.

"Give me a ride?"

-

When they got to Hoseok's house - Hyungwon had memorized the way there well and told Kihyun directions - Hyungwon got off from the motorcycle and thanked Kihyun for the ride. Kihyun drove away.

Hyungwon's uneasy feeling grew stronger as he walked towards the front door. He hoped that Hoseok was home because if he wasn't, Hyungwon would have to walk all the way back since he already let Kihyun leave.

He knocked on the front door and waited. Soon the door opened but the one Hyungwon saw wasn't Hoseok but some older lady.

"Uhm... Is Hoseok here?" Hyungwon asked and felt the woman staring at him really badly.

"Hoseok?" the woman let out. Hyungwon started thinking that was this really Hoseok's house and quickly tried to think if he had gone the right way. In reality she was just surprised that someone was actually looking for Hoseok because that had never ever happened before. "He is in his room."

She moved away from the door to let Hyungwon in. The house seemed small and old compared to what Hyungwon was used to. Hoseok's mother looked old too and Hyungwon wondered if she was even in the working age anymore. He closed the front door behind him and took his shoes off.

"It's the brown door on the left," woman said and walked back in the house, leaving Hyungwon on his own.

Hyungwon looked to his left and saw a closed, brown door. Until now he had been pretty confident but that was long gone now. Looking at that door, he actually had no idea what he would do now. He felt like he didn't know Hoseok well enough to just walk in. Then again, he didn't know what would happen if he knocked.

He slowly got closer to the door and glanced to the other side to see Hoseok's mother - or at least he assumed it was his mother - sitting in the living room, knitting or something. He breathed in deeply and then raised his hand to knock on the door.

There was no answer so Hyungwon thought he must have knocked too lightly and knocked again but there was still nothing.

"Hoseok... It's me," he said silently and leaned against the door, hoping to get some answer from the guy inside.

"Don't come in," Hoseok's voice came through the door. It made shivers run down Hyungwon's spine. He was glad to hear that Hoseok's was still alive and breathing but at the same time the way he sounded made Hyungwon get even more nervous.

"I'm going to. I came all the way here and I can't turn back now," he tried to sound determined but his words seemed pathetic instead.

"You can't. The door is locked," Hoseok in the other hand sounded panic-stricken, as if he was really fearing for Hyungwon actually coming in despite his prohibition. He was right. Hyungwon wasn't going to leave before he would see Hoseok.

He tried the handle but didn't yet open the door. "No it's not."

Hyungwon heard some quick steps coming towards the door and then the lock clicked. "Yes it is."

"I'm going to wait here then," Hyungwon said and sat down on the ground, his back against the door that was now locked. He looked towards the living room again to see if Hoseok's mother was listening to them but she seemed to be too far to hear anything.

It was silent and Hyungwon tried to listen carefully to find out where in the room Hoseok was but it seemed to be impossible because Hoseok managed to be so quietly.

"Do you know what I do sometimes whenever Yongguk won't let me in and I get too worried of him?" Hyungwon started to break the silence after a while. It was a rhetorical question and he didn't expect Hoseok to answer but he hoped Hoseok was listening anyways. "I climb in from his window."

There was still no sounds from the other side of the door but Hyungwon could feel Hoseok was hearing what he said.

"He claims that I disturb his privacy too much but since he is my brother I don't care if he is mad at me," he continued while starting to wonder why did he chose to tell this story. "He really must hate me but I can't help it that I need to know he is okay... I don't want you to hate me and that's why I'm not already barging in through this door."

Hyungwon heard Hoseok shift his position a bit and realized that he was standing somewhere near the door.

"I can wait here as long as I need. It's not like I need to go to school anyways."

Hyungwon rested his head against the door and closed his eyes. He was so prepared to wait for hours that he got taken aback then the door suddenly opened and the support disappeared from behind his back. After a small struggle to keep his balance, he stood up and turned to the door that was now a bit open.

Hoseok's mother looked to his direction with a surprised look on her face. She didn't think Hoseok would ever open the door. Hyungwon carefully entered the room.

All lights were off in the room and curtains were closed. The only light was coming from the open bathroom door in the other side of the room. Hoseok had now moved to sit on his bed, wrapped in the blanket so that only his face was showing. Hyungwon sat on a chair that was next to the desk and faced Hoseok who was staring at him with a dead expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" Hyungwon asked, his cautious tone and wrinkled eyebrows revealing his worry.

Hoseok kept quiet. Now that he was face-to-face with Hyungwon, he couldn't even open his mouth. He looked down to avoid any type of contact with Hyungwon.

Hyungwon stood up and walked to Hoseok to sit next to him. He put his arms around the burrito-ed boy and hugged him. Because Hoseok's hands were keeping the blanket around him, he couldn't get rid of Hyungwon and had to just accept the hug. Even though he hadn't said anything, Hyungwon could still read between the lines and judge by the way Hoseok was trying to push him away.

"If it's because of me that you're sad then I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you," he whispered.

He slowly let go of Hoseok and examined him for a while. Hoseok still refused to look at him and was just staring to a blank space. Hyungwon wondered what he should say next. Hoseok didn't seem to be about to come out from the bubble he was in for a while.

"You need to come back. Everybody is worried about you at the park because you used to be there all the time and now you're just gone. The red hair said he even tried calling you. Minhyuk refused to tell me anything, saying that he doesn't trust me."

After hearing that, Hoseok turned to look at Hyungwon with wide eyes. Minhyuk knew more about him than anyone else and hearing that Hyungwon had met Minhyuk made Hoseok start to think what things Minhyuk had possibly revealed. He had made a decision to not talk to Hyungwon now so he couldn't ask about it even if he wanted to.

"It's okay if you're not ready to tell me anything but I would appreciate it if you talked to me," Hyungwon placed his hand on Hoseok's shoulder and soothed it gently. "It's killing me to see you like this."

Hoseok glanced at him quickly before continuing to stare into the void. He shivered a bit even though he was tightly wrapped inside the blanket.

"You're not... physically hurt, are you?" Hyungwon asked, that carefulness back in his voice again.

Hoseok shook his head so rapidly that the blanket fell from covering his head, revealing his hair that was a bit greasy since he hadn't been showering for the few days. Hyungwon didn't care about it and still had his mind on the previous thing. He didn't believe Hoseok.

"Come with me," Hyungwon said and put his hand behind Hoseok's back to suggest him to stand up. He would have grabbed Hoseok's hand but they were hidden under the blanket so he couldn't.

Hoseok tried to resist at first but had to give up knowing he had nothing against Hyungwon. He stood up by his own will. Hyungwon guided him straight towards the bathroom in front of them with the hand that was still behind Hoseok's back.

"Please don't do this," Hoseok let out a helpless cry, speaking for the first time since he had let Hyungwon in. Hyungwon felt his heart breaking a bit just because of how broken Hoseok sounded. He felt bad making Hoseok do something he didn't want to but at the same time he knew he had to.

The blanket fell off from Hoseok's shoulders as he walked closer to the bathroom with slow steps and revealed that he was shirtless, wearing nothing else but boxer shorts. He was keeping his arms pressed tightly against his body and therefor some blood was stained on his chest.

"Shh..." Hyungwon hissed. He gulped and felt a rock in his stomach after seeing Hoseok like that. He tried to ignore it and act all normal but his hands were shaking a bit.

He stopped Hoseok in front of the sink and turned the water on to as cold as he could. He grabbed Hoseok's left wrist and forced him to separate it from his body. Then he slowly put it under the ice cold water.

Hoseok writhed when the water hit his wrists and poured down in the fresh cuts, some deep ones still bleeding. His breath hitched and he tried to squirm away but after a while he suddenly felt calm. 

Hyungwon was keeping his other hand behind Hoseok to help him stay still. His hand adhered against Hoseok's bare back. Hoseok's skin was almost burning hot although the guy had just been shivering a while ago.

Hoseok looked at Hyungwon to see his expression but Hyungwon's face was just blank. Hoseok didn't have regrets of what he had done but he still didn't like the feeling he got, knowing that Hyungwon was disappointed in him.

Hyungwon turned the water off and picked the blanket back up from the ground. He put it around Hoseok's shoulders again and started leading him back to bed. Hoseok wasn't restraining anymore and just did what Hyungwon guided him to. He sat on the bed again.

"We're going out. You can't be in here any longer or you will waste away," Hyungwon told while going to Hoseok's closet to find some clothes for him. He thought making Hoseok go out from his room was the best way to force - or in Hyungwon's dictionary, help - him out of that depression bubble he was in.


	19. Chapter 19

Hyungwon threw a hoodie and sweatpants to Hoseok's lap. The sweatpants were the same ones he had once given to Hoseok when they had met properly for the first time. Although they had been washed, they had some dirt in the knee. Maybe Hoseok was too embarrassed to return them like that and therefore Hyungwon never got them back. Instead of starting to put the clothes on, Hoseok just stared at them with dazed eyes.

"Do I have to dress you up like a kid?" Hyungwon asked, crossing his arms above his chest and raising his eyebrows.

Hoseok didn't react and continued looking down at the clothes.

"Aish, I never thought I would actually do this," Hyungwon stepped forward and was about to take the hoodie from Hoseok's lap when the guy grabbed it himself. Letting Hyungwon dress him up would cross Hoseok's line so he had to act up and start doing something himself.

After Hoseok was dressed up, Hyungwon walked him out from his room. Hoseok's mother looked at them with still confused expression but didn't say anything, shook her head slightly and focused back on knitting.

"Put your shoes on," Hyungwon said when Hoseok just continued staring at the ground. He took Hoseok's sneakers and put them in front of Hoseok. Then he started putting on his own shoes and luckily noticed Hoseok slowly beginning to move his feet to slid them in the sneakers.

When Hyungwon opened the door and stepped out first, Hoseok was left standing in the doorway, looking doubtful. Hyungwon grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Hyungwon wanted to let go of Hoseok's hand, knowing that it could possibly make the guy uncomfortable but didn't let go until Hoseok was obediently walking next to him.

"Is there any good places to eat near here? You live so far from everything..." Hyungwon muttered as they walked along the streets. He wasn't expecting Hoseok to answer but he needed to carry on some kind of conversation.

He looked up to the sky where almost all the clouds had disappeared and the sun was shining brightly. "I thought it was going to rain earlier but seems like I was wrong," he said and glanced at Hoseok who didn't care about the weather at all and would have looked just as grumpy even if it had rained.

After walking for a good fifteen minutes, they were finally closer to some kind of civilization and Hyungwon noticed a small house where they could eat. He pulled the door open and was about to go inside when he saw Hoseok stopping and leaving behind.

"What is it? Come on," Hyungwon stepped to him and grabbed his hand again to pull him along. Hoseok refused to move at first but then just followed Hyungwon because he knew he didn't have a chance as he still wasn't talking.

"Mother, give us two bowls of ramen," Hyungwon said when they got inside and sat on a free table - there was no one else there so all tables were free. The place was small and cozy but the business probably didn't go well as it was so far from everything.

Hoseok was keeping his head low and seemed to be hiding his face. Hyungwon thought it was weird since there were no people there.

The old lady came out soon carrying two bowls. She was just setting them in front of them when her eyes landed on Hoseok who was still trying to hide.

"Oh, Hoseok, good to see you," she said with a cheerful tone. Hoseok stopped hiding his face but seemed clearly uncomfortable by the fact that the lady had noticed him. "I see you brought a friend with you. He is really handsome."

"We will eat well," Hyungwon said to the lady. Hoseok just nodded and forced a small smile on his face.

"Hoseok used to come here a lot when he was younger but after the accident I haven't seen him anymore. He must be busy with school. I see you are good friends," the lady kept talking. Hoseok's forced smile was already gone and instead he was just staring at the table.

Hyungwon wanted to ask about which accident the lady was referring to but instead he just thanked for the food and the lady finally left. He looked up to Hoseok. "Eat," he said and put chopsticks in Hoseok's hand.

Hoseok stroked the ramen noodles with his chopsticks but he didn't feel like eating them at all. To make Hyungwon stop staring at him, he picked up small amount of the noodles and slowly brought it to his mouth. As soon as he ate the first bite, he realized how hungry he actually was.

Hyungwon poured water to a glass and put it in front of Hoseok who had now started to eat like he had been starving for a while - which he actually was. Hyungwon didn't care that much about his own food so he just watched as Hoseok ate.

"Are you done? We should head back before it gets too late," Hyungwon put some money on the table and stood up to get ready to leave. "Thank you for the food. We will come again!" he yelled to the old lady. Then he walked out and Hoseok, who was more than willing to leave after that awkward encounter, followed him.

Their walk back to Hoseok's house was even more quiet than it had been to the other way. Hyungwon couldn't come up with anything to talk about and Hoseok was still keeping his non-speaking tack.

-

When they got back to the house, Hoseok's mother was still sitting in the same place as before they left. She stared at them as they walked to Hoseok's room and Hyungwon greeted her with a nod.

Hoseok couldn't open his mouth to tell Hyungwon to leave so soon he was laying on the bed face-to-face with him. It was the first time he had been looking at Hyungwon's face from so close for such a long time and his mind kept wandering to think about how Hyungwon didn't even look that flawless after all.

Since the moment he first saw Hyungwon and was blinded by his beautiful face, he had been admiring his good looks but now he realized that Hyungwon wasn't perfect. Still, looking at Hyungwon made him have butterflies in his stomach.

"What are you thinking?" Hyungwon asked, his eyes fixed on Hoseok's. Hoseok closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "I am thinking about where I will take you tomorrow. You can skip school for one more day. There is this indoor skate park that is really dope. I know you will like it," Hyungwon answered to his own question. He saw Hoseok opening his eyes again and they got that eye connection back.

"Also..." he continued after a while. "I don't know what happened that made you this depressed but I know it will get better. That's how life works. It gives you all the bad shit you can imagine and then later you realize that it isn't that bad after all and that there are good things in your life too. Sometimes that happens automatically but sometimes you have to force yourself to live on your life. That's the strength many people don't have. You either need to find that strength or then you need someone who will be there for you."

Hoseok was surprised by Hyungwon's poetical words. They hit home for him and he felt really touched. He looked away from Hyungwon's eyes when he felt his own ones getting a bit teary.

"Thank you," he let out, his voice coming out rough because he hadn't talked in a while.

Hyungwon found it surprising that Hoseok started talking this soon. He leaned in to press a gentle kiss on his forehead. Hoseok didn't avoid it or flinch at all. He even thought it was nice.

"From what Minhyuk said, I understood this wasn't the first time you have done this," Hyungwon said and Hoseok looked at him again. "I mean locked yourself out like this."

"He warned me too, saying that it's just a matter of time. He was right but I didn't listen to him, thinking that I could avoid it this time," Hoseok seemed to avoid some things but the fact that he was speaking at all revealed that he wanted to talk about it anyways.

Hyungwon put his hand behind Hoseok's head and stroked his hair. Hoseok's mind was enough of a mess already that he didn't even care about being this close to Hyungwon who clearly took advantage of that fact.

"Previously I didn't have anyone so it stayed like this until other circumstances forced me to..."

"What happened back then?" Hyungwon carefully asked, trying to lead Hoseok on. He knew Hoseok had a lot to hide and he was trying his best to get to know the guy more.

"It was less than a year ago. I started a new hobby. Dancing," Hoseok seemed to smile a little thinking back to that time although that smile was mostly ironical. "People in that field were rude and arrogant but I endured it because I liked dancing. No one really wanted to be my friend there. I'm not sure why everyone hated me."

Hoseok's voice went really serious and Hyungwon got worried but didn't stop him from talking. He had never given Hoseok any reason to trust him so he wondered how much Hoseok was willing to reveal to him.

"I something stupid happened and after that everything fell apart. No one saw me for weeks," Hoseok's voice faded away and he moved his eyes down again.

"How did you make it through?" Hyungwon questioned after Hoseok didn't continue talking.

"I didn't. Not until I was carried out of the room by paramedics one day."

"I'm glad it didn't come to that situation this time," Hyungwon said. His hear felt heavy as he listened to Hoseok's confessions and thought about the fact that no one had been there for Hoseok when he had had hardest time. "I'm begging you. Please don't do anything risky in the future. You need to know that I'm here for you."

"I can't promise you anything," Hoseok muttered.

"You trust me, right?"

"I don't," he said and looked up to Hyungwon to see just how disappointed that made him. Then he quickly added, "But you are closer to me than anyone else."

"Good."

"You won't let anyone know about this," Hoseok tried to seem threatening.

"I won't," Hyungwon promised. It wasn't like he had anyone to tell or any reason to spread Hoseok's secrets.

"I will kill you if you do."

"That's cute," Hyungwon laughed and moved his hands to Hoseok's sides with the intention to tickle him.

"Stop," Hoseok whispered.

"Why?" Hyungwon questioned with a suggestive smile and slowly started to move his fingers along Hoseok's sides.

"Stop," Hoseok said again, this time with more serious tone. Hyungwon immediately took his hands off and his smile faded away.

"Okay, I'll stop. Go to sleep, you look really tired," Hyungwon gave him a small smile but Hoseok didn't see it because he had already closed his eyes. "We can talk more tomorrow."

Hoseok's breathing automatically got slower and he snuggled closer to Hyungwon's chest. Hyungwon put his arms around the other guy who soon was already asleep.

When he thought Hoseok was sleeping deep enough, he slowly took his arms off and got off from the bed, carefully so he wouldn't wake Hoseok up. He covered Hoseok with a blanket and let out a deep sigh.

He looked around in Hoseok's room that was small and tidy. Hoseok didn't have much else but his bed, closet and desk, that most likely wasn't used to do school stuff because computer screen and PlayStation took pretty much all the space. Games were lined up next to the console unlike in Hyungwon's room where they were just thrown around. Hyungwon didn't see FIFA there, though, which disappointed him.

Since the room was very simple and dreary, there wasn't much for Hyungwon to look around. His feet led him to the bathroom that was still the only source of light in the whole room. Back when he had dragged Hoseok to the bathroom, his mind had been elsewhere and he hadn't even noticed the blood-stained knife laying on the floor next to a red pool.

Hyungwon picked it up and rinsed it under water. He didn't know what he would do with it and he knew that Hoseok not having that one specific knife wouldn't change anything but he still felt like it was better if it was gone.

He went back to Hoseok's room and sat on the chair that was in front of the desk. He put his elbow on the desk and rested his head on his hand. Seeing Hoseok sleeping there so peacefully made him feel calm.

Hyungwon had known it well himself for a while already but in situations like this, his feeling got even stronger. He liked Hoseok very much. He didn't know what that would do to him and he was a bit afraid but curious to find out. His life could get destroyed or change to something better. Right now he felt like Hoseok was the only thing he had to lose.


	20. Chapter 20

On the following morning, Hoseok was the first one to wake up. When he opened his eyes and sat up, he didn't even really remember what had happened until he saw Hyungwon who was sitting on the ground and sleeping with his face against the bed. The sight made Hoseok's heart jump a little.

 _"Shit..."_ he silently muttered, looking around to escape because he really needed to pee. Hyungwon was laying on top of the blanket so there was no way for Hoseok to get out without waking him up.

He slowly lifted the blanket a little so he could get out from under it and started crawling out of the bed, trying to move as carefully as possible. After every movement, he glanced over to Hyungwon to see if the guy was still in deep sleep.

With his tongue in the middle of his mouth as he was concentrating so hard, Hoseok had already gotten one feet out of the bed when Hyungwon suddenly raised his head.

"Where are you going?" Hyungwon asked with a sleepy voice. Hoseok stopped being careful and just ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Hyungwon crawled under the covers and continued sleeping in Hoseok's bed.

When Hoseok got back from the bathroom and saw Hyungwon there, he had no choice but to stay awake alone by himself since he didn't want to wake the guy up - also it would have been too much if he squeezed himself next to Hyungwon.

He had nothing else to do so he pretended to be doing some schoolwork. At first he actually tried to do something but then he realized he had been just staring at the book for fifteen minutes without actually reading any of it. He glanced over to Hyungwon to see that he was still sleeping deeply. He pushed his computer screen away to make room on his desk and then he reached for his backpack to take a pen and some notebook.

Hoseok decided to look at the book start writing down what he thought was important so he would remember the things better. He didn't have much experience of studying. He didn't care so he didn't study. His parents basically hated him for that. They thought he was lazy - which he was.

"Am I really witnessing this?" Hyungwon suddenly said, startling Hoseok who was so deeply focused in the studying he hadn't even noticed that Hyungwon had been awake for a while already. "You're studying?"

"Yes..." Hoseok muttered and put his pen down. He pulled the book on top of the notebook so Hyungwon wouldn't see it.

"And here I thought you despised it. Show me that," Hyungwon leaned over to snatch the notebook Hoseok wasn't fast enough to protect.

"I don't despise it. I just don't see the purpose."

Hyungwon looked at what Hoseok had written for a while and then let out a laugh. "What are you writing is complete nonsense. But well done trying to pick only the unimportant parts," he playfully hit Hoseok with the notebook.

Hoseok took his book and the notes from Hyungwon's hand. He put them away as if he was never about to study anyways.

"Hey," Hyungwon stood up and leaned down on Hoseok's level, putting his arm around his shoulders. "I told you I'm here for you if you need help with studies. I can teach you any subject."

Hoseok pushed Hyungwon's arm off and continued staring at the table that was now empty.

"Oh, right, we we're supposed to do something today," Hyungwon sat back on the bed. "What time the bus goes?"

"Eight and twelve," Hoseok shortly answered, not even thinking about what the clock was at that moment. He didn't really care about going anywhere with Hyungwon.

"I doubt we can make it to the eight bus but the other one sounds convenient since it's half past eleven," Hyungwon said after looking the time from his phone.

Hoseok let out a long complaining sound and slid down on the chair. "Do we have to go?" he groaned.

"No but we're going to go anyways. Where is your skateboard?"

Hoseok nodded towards the corner of the room where his skateboard was leaning against the wall. Hyungwon walked over there and picked it up. He ran his hand along the surface.

"When is your birthday?" he suddenly asked and turned back to Hoseok.

"In a month, why? So many questions, seriously..." Hoseok muttered for answer. He got up from the chair and walked out of his room. Hyungwon picked Hoseok's backpack because he knew Hoseok would miss it if he had gone out without it.

-

They got off the bus when they came to the bank. Hoseok didn't know what Hyungwon was up to but he just followed the guy like a dog. Hyungwon was glad it was like that because at least he didn't have to order Hoseok around and force him to come with.

"What are we doing here?" Hoseok asked when he walked next to Hyungwon across the center area. It was already kind of clear to him that they were heading towards the indoor skateboarding place but he wanted to act like he didn't know about it.

"You will see," Hyungwon said with a casual tone as they came to the skating place. _'Spotlight'_ it said the name with glowing letters on top of the door they walked in from.

Hoseok was amazed as soon as they came in. Being used to the skate park which only consisted two ramps, funbox and a rail, this was like a dream come true. It had everything from bowls to stairs to the usual quarter pipes. He looked around with his mouth hanging open. 

"Be careful to not to catch a fly," Hyungwon joked and used his finger to close Hoseok's mouth before it would fall to the floor. "Hey kids!" he then shouted to the two juniors fooling around in the bowl. They immediately turned to look at him with startled expressions. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

The kids quickly gathered their things and ran away as if they were scared of Hyungwon. When the door closed behind them, Hyungwon let out a laugh.

"How can you just drive them away like that?" Hoseok asked.

"I want to be alone with you. They would have just stared at us if they were here with us," Hyungwon answered. He gave the skateboard he had been holding until now to Hoseok. "Now let's have fun."

He left Hoseok standing there and walked to the other side of the park where there were some helmets, skateboards and a scooter. He took a skateboard and flipped it around in his hands with his fingers in the both ends of it.

"Before you say anything, this is actually mine but I left it here one time when some kid wanted to use it," Hyungwon said and put the board on the floor. He stepped on it and got to move towards the bowl. The speed was so slow that it stopped when he was on the edge of the bowl. He gave a wink to Hoseok and then leaned forward to proceed going down to the bottom of the bowl.

When Hoseok saw Hyungwon skateboarding, his admiration towards the guy was on a different level. He didn't appreciate him only as a two years older, good looking and funny guy but as an idol. Hyungwon, as a skateboarder, was a big inspiration for him.

Hoping that Hyungwon would be too focused on his own doing to pay much attention to the other guy, Hoseok kicked his own board to move and started skating to the other way. It felt so good and familiar that a small smile came to Hoseok's lips. He got more speed and jumped to grind on a rail, stumbling to the ground almost immediately because he lost his balance but getting back on and continuing straight away.

Hyungwon pretended to be doing something but in reality he was watching Hoseok from the corner of his eye. In a while, Hoseok got enough courage to try the other elements too and figure out something to do with them instead of just skating around.

An hour later they both sat on the edge of the bowl. Hoseok was a bit out of breath and sweaty because he was wearing a hoodie and it was pretty warm inside. He didn't care, he was used to being hot since he always wore hoodies.

"Wait here a second," Hyungwon suddenly got up and jogged to where there was a door to a back room or something. He came back with two Coca-Cola cans.

Hoseok looked at the door with a dubious look on his face. It said _'no entry'_ on the door with big letters. Hyungwon gave one of the cans to him and noticed his gaze.

"Don't worry. I know the owner well," he said and sat back down next to Hoseok. He opened his can and took a sip.

"Why am I not surprised," Hoseok followed Hyungwon's actions and opened his soda as well. It was so cold that he felt like his fingers would freeze on it but at the same time it was also refreshing.

"You know the owner too," Hyungwon turned to look at Hoseok.

"What? Who?" Hoseok tried to think but because he didn't know a lot of people he had no idea who Hyungwon meant.

"It's Yongguk. He set up this place with the money he had gathered while he used to be a rapper," Hyungwon explained and Hoseok's eyes widened.

"So this is what he was up to back then..." Hoseok muttered and looked around, thinking back to the time when Yongguk's career as a rapper had suddenly came to an end and no one knew what happened to him after that.

"Yeah... Or it took like a year until he got out again and started doing this," Hyungwon said. He brought his can to his lips.

"Can I ask what happened? Why he suddenly stopped?"

Hyungwon looked at Hoseok for a while, wondering where he would start and how much he could tell. "His team wasn't big back then. It was only him, Gunhee and Junhong."

"Junhong?" Hoseok questioned quietly. The name sounded familiar.

"Gunhee and Yongguk were best friends since they were little. They both liked rapping and made songs together. During high school, they got discovered and Yongguk blew up. He became popular, got to feature in some big artists' songs and even released a mixtape which sold well. I bet Gunhee was envious but he stayed by Yongguk's side because they were best friends and Yongguk promised to him that one day he would help Gunhee get fame in the underground scene too."

"Judging by the fact that I have never heard from him as a rapper, I guess that never happened," Hoseok commented when Hyungwon got silent for a second.

"Exactly. Then Junhong came along. He was the same age with Gunhee, a year younger than Yongguk. They became a team. Yongguk rapped, Gunhee and Junhong DJ-ed, produced and hyped up the crowd alongside Yongguk. They were seventeen and eighteen and being in the underground scene, there was lot of parties, drugs and girls," Hyungwon let out small laugh with the last words.

Hoseok was listening carefully and he had his eyes fixed at Hyungwon the whole time the guy was talking.

"Yongguk was really close to Junhong. He loved him more than a brother, if you know what I mean. Obviously he never talked about it but I could tell from the way he and Junhong looked at each other. You might know Junhong by the name Zelo. Yongguk and him released a song called Confession and got so much attention from all over the country. I can only imagine how angry Gunhee was that the _'new kid'_ got to grow big that soon when he had always been with Yongguk and still didn't get a change to feature in any of his songs."

Hoseok's mouth opened a bit and he put a hand to cover it. The pieces of Hyungwon's story automatically connected inside of his mind.

"Zelo had a change to make it really big but he never had time. He died a week after Confession from a drug overdose," Hyungwon glanced at Hoseok to see his reaction.

"Oh my god," was the only thing Hoseok was able to mutter from behind the hand that was still over his mouth.

"Yongguk blamed Gunhee for it although it was just an accident and Gunhee had nothing to do with it - or at least it was never investigated. The two of them drifted apart and Yongguk fell into that dark pit where he wasn't able to get out for a long time and even after he did, he still blames Gunhee and the two of them just won't get along."

"That's..." Hoseok wanted to say something but he didn't know what.

"I know," Hyungwon sighed. "Now let's talk about something more cheerful."

"Like what?"

"Uhm... Do you want to learn something?" he asked and stood up. Without even getting any answer, he took Hoseok's hand and tried to pull the guy up.

Hoseok with no intention to get up, was heavier than he expected and Hyungwon ended up falling forward and landing on top of Hoseok, who fell back because of Hyungwon's weight too.

"Well this is... Why do I feel like you want to end up like this on purpose," Hyungwon said mischievously smiling as he stared at Hoseok below him.

Hoseok gulped and somehow his eyes that were traveling along Hyungwon's face stopped to the lips. Hyungwon took it as a hint and leaned down to kiss him slowly. He didn't let it go far though, and pulled away after a while.

"You like getting kissed by me, don't you? Remember that last time at my house? You were so into it you even forgot we were supposed to just act it," Hyungwon continued with that suggestive tone and Hoseok was praying inside his head that his cheeks wouldn't get red.

Hyungwon got off from on top of Hoseok and helped the guy sit up and sat next to him again. Hoseok was starting to get hot again so he took a sip of the soda that luckily hadn't fallen with him and Hyungwon.

"Serious talk now," Hyungwon said. "Do you-," he started slowly and cut himself off to make up some tension.

He put his hand behind Hoseok's neck and leaned closer. They were looking at each other from eye to eye, Hoseok with some hesitation and Hyungwon without even a single bit of that.   

"Want to-," he kept talking slowly and stopped his sentence in the midway again. "Go and get something to eat?" he finally finished and let go of Hoseok, pulling away a bit but still keeping that eye contact.

"W-what?" Hoseok stuttered as if he had been expecting Hyungwon to say something else.

"I'm kidding. Do you want to date me?" Hyungwon asked again, this time with normal voice and no pauses.

"What?" Hoseok repeated the same thing he said before. He felt his heart beating so fast Hyungwon could probably hear it too.

"I like you. And even though you don't admit it, I know you have to like me too, even a little bit," Hyungwon said confidently and Hoseok was annoyed that Hyungwon knew his feelings better than he did himself.

Thousands of things passed Hoseok's mind at that moment when he looked at Hyungwon's eyes, thinking about what reply he would give. He thought about how Hyungwon had been so concerned for him the night before that he came over. How Hyungwon had been the first person ever to reach out like that and actually help him. How he would still be rotting in his room without Hyungwon's help. How for the first time in his life, he felt like someone actually cared about him. How all the times Hyungwon made him feel annoyed was only because he had already fallen for Hyungwon.

"Whatever," Hoseok let out and looked away from Hyungwon, biting his lips together so he wouldn't smile. He didn't want to say just yes because that would have made him feel like he was too easy so whatever was fine.

"So yes?"

Hoseok nodded and glanced at Hyungwon, who jumped up to start celebrating. He wanted to yell _'I'm dating Shin Hoseok!'_ from the bottom of his lungs but he had to keep his image so he calmed himself and sat back down.

"No one will know about this," Hoseok said with a strict tone. His heart was still beating like crazy. "Let's keep it secret."

"Okay," agreed Hyungwon, who was smiling from ear to ear now.

Hoseok held out his little finger. Hyungwon looked at it for a while before taking out his own finger and locking it together with Hoseok's. They pressed their thumbs together to seal the promise.


	21. Chapter 21

Hoseok forced Hyungwon to go home the same night they were at Spotlight. He liked being around Hyungwon but too much was too much. Own space was important to him too so he couldn't yet be with Hyungwon for more than one day at the time. After a short makeout session in the backroom - where they had hidden as other people started arriving - Hyungwon agreed to go home as Hoseok went his own way.

Next morning Hoseok took a bus to school. He was a bit nervous about it because he knew that he would see Minhyuk and Byungchul there and that they would pick on him since he was absent from school for almost a week.

"What is this?" Byungchul asked as soon as Hoseok sat on the free seat behind them. They both turned to look at him. "You're out and alive."

"Why wouldn't I be alive?" Hoseok wrinkled his eyebrows to look confused although he knew exactly what Byungchul meant. The two of them always talked about that same thing because they knew the exact truth about 'the last time'. The time when he took shit ton of sleeping pills and alcohol and was already close to death when the medics arrived.

That was the accident the lady had referred when he had been eating with Hyungwon. Hoseok wished that Hyungwon would never ask about it. Based on how Minhyuk and Byungchul treated him after knowing, Hoseok didn't want anyone else to ever know.

"Think about it, Hoseok," Minhyuk laughed. "By the way, I was supposed to talk to you more about that Changkyun thing but then I never saw you again."

"What about it?" Hoseok asked and he suddenly felt his oppressive feeling coming back when he thought about Minhyuk's words from the previous Friday again.

They had been in his mind a lot that weekend but after that he had been trying to block them, knowing Minhyuk only said it to make him feel bad. He wanted to believe Changkyun would never say something like that but at the same time Minhyuk wouldn't have made something like that up.

"Never mind," Minhyuk said with a small smile after he noticed how hearing about Changkyun made Hoseok. He decided to let the guy be and sat back the normal way with Byungchul.

The rest of the bus drive was peaceful for Hoseok because the others didn't pay any attention to him. When they arrived to school, he walked to class even though there was still ten minutes left. Being his usual self, he pressed his head against the table and started sleeping as soon as he got there.

He was just about to fall asleep when he heard someone sitting on the seat in front of him with loud sounds. There was no doubt who it was. He raised his head up to see Jooheon.

"Where have you been? Everyone has been worried because they can't reach you," Jooheon started, the tone of his voice loud and cheerful as usual. "Hyungwon came looking for you. Did you meet him?"

Hoseok only nodded and leaned back on his chair. He saw other people starting to appear in the classroom but Jooheon was still talking to him. It was weird since usually Jooheon acted like they didn't know each other when they were in school.

"You have missed so much while you were gone... Me and Nahyun are together again!" Jooheon almost shouted, getting an excited smile on his face as he told that.

"Congratulations," Hoseok simply said. He knew that Jooheon's relationship wouldn't last this time either. Everyone knew it. Since Jooheon was what he was, troublemaker and fuckboy, no woman could stand him for more than a month.

"Anyways, good to see you back. Park today?"

Hoseok nodded again and then Jooheon left to his own seat. Hoseok continued sleeping through the whole day.

-

After the last class was over, Hoseok was about to storm out of the class already to go to the park - not with as much of enthusiasm than he used to have though - when the homeroom teacher called his name.

"Would you stay for a moment," teacher Pyo said to the boy who was already halfway out of the class.

Hoseok stopped while everyone else continued exiting the class. Getting a bit nervous because he usually never had to talk to their homeroom teacher face-to-face, he walked in front of the class. Teacher Pyo waited until everyone else had left so he could talk to Hoseok.

He let out a deep sigh and looked at his notebook before facing back to Hoseok. "You know there is a serious problem with your absences and grades. I have been trying to get the principal to look it past his fingers but he is thinking about contacting your parents."

Hoseok's eyes widened and he looked up to the teacher. His parents usually didn't care about him but school success was important to them just like to every other parent. If they found out their son wasn't the first place as they had been told but the other way around, it would be the end for Hoseok - he would never be able to go out to the skate park again.

"If you manage to get up a few places from the last place and make sure to avoid any more absences, he might let it be. Try to be awake more in classes and cheer up. It's gonna be okay," teacher Pyo gave him an encouraging smile.

Hoseok gave him a small bow and turned around to walk out of the class. When he got out from the classroom to the hallway, he ran into someone because he was not paying attention and just staring at the ground.

"Hi," Hyungwon said when Hoseok backed away one step and lifted up his head that had bumped into Hyungwon's chest. "Going to the park?"

"What are you doing here?" Hoseok asked and continued walking along the hallway next to Hyungwon.

"I just happened to be passing the school and decided to come see you," Hyungwon said. Hoseok was glad almost everyone had already left because it would be a bit awkward to be seen with Hyungwon although nothing gave away they were dating if they just walked there. "What did you talk with the teacher?"

"He just said I need to get my grades up to make for the absences or the principal will talk to my parents," Hoseok knew Hyungwon would offer to help as soon as he heard that.

"I can help you," Hyungwon seemed to be bucked about the fact that he could help Hoseok. "Your parents don't know you're failing?"

Hoseok just shook his head no. His parents had no idea and the only reason they let him be slacking off like that was because they thought he had excellent grades.

"Oh fuck..." Hyungwon snorted.

They walked to the park, talking a bit about this and that. Hoseok was a bit doubtful to arrive to the park with Hyungwon because he knew it would bring questions to everyone's minds and some of the loudest and unthinking ones - name Jooheon and Gingerboy - would say them out loud.

As they arrived to the park, Hoseok noticed that there were a lot of people. Maybe more than there had ever been while Hoseok had been around. There was Jooheon and Changkyun, Kihyun and Yoonsun, Hyungwoo, Gingerboy and his friend Sumin, who Hoseok knew because she was in the same class with him, Lee Sang and Jen.

"Ho'!" Gingerboy yelled when he noticed Hoseok coming. He ran there and jumped to hug Hoseok. Hyungwon watched the scene with dubious look.

"He has been extra like this today. I don't know what he is on," Yoonsun explained Ginger's actions to confused looking Hoseok.

"I think I know!" Jooheon yelled from further where he was doing some tricks with his BMX.

"Shut up," Gingerboy shouted back, gritting his teeth. He glanced to Hyunwoo to see if the said guy was listening. "I ain't on anythin'."

"Calm down, we know you're not," Kihyun laughed and Ginger glared at him. Then he stepped on his skateboard and skated towards the ramp Sumin was sitting on top of.

Hoseok tried to get rid of Hyungwon quickly because it was getting weird so he quickly started skateboarding himself too. He went past Lee Sang who was going to the other way and when he looked over his shoulder after a while, he saw Hyungwon and Sang walking to the dumpsters which was the usual talking place when you had some secret business no one else was supposed to know but you wanted everyone to see you anyways.

Hoseok tried to convince himself he wasn't interested at all but he still kept glancing to the direction every now and then, not getting anything out of it because Hyungwon and Lee Sang were just standing there and talking.

They came back a while later and both skated to different ways of the park. Hyungwon came to where Hoseok was trying to do that same funbox jump Jooheon had once instructed him in and almost killed him. Now that he had a bit more experience, it wasn't that hard at all.

"What are you doing?" Hyungwon asked when he arrived next to Hoseok.

"I'm skateboarding?" Hoseok muttered without even looking at Hyungwon and got his board to jump up from the ground, landing on top of the funbox and managing to balance there for a few seconds before he had to turn his board around and come back to the ground.

Hyungwon let out a small laugh to Hoseok's sassy response. "You're doing well," he said.

Hoseok skated around Hyungwon to take some speed and do the same thing again. He didn't really care that Hyungwon was watching him because he felt like he wasn't failing that badly this time. Also he didn't mind if Hyungwon thought he was bad because there was no way he could ever be as good as Hyungwon.

Everything was going just normal when Hoseok landed on the edge of the box and felt something weird happening. Balance under his other leg suddenly disappeared and he fell to the ground. From the cracking sound he already knew that his skateboard was broken.

He stood there staring at the two pieces of the board, thinking about what just had happened.

"My Alien Workshop!" he heard Changkyun yelling from afar. Hoseok remembered how Changkyun had told him to take good care of that skateboard when he had given it to him.

"That board was already at the end of its road before you even gave it to Hoseok!" Hyungwon replied to the other guy who seemed to be devastated to see his ex-skateboard break.

Hoseok picked the pieced up from the ground and walked to the bench where almost everyone had gathered already. He threw the pieces on the ground and sat on the edge of the bench next to Jen. The bench could barely manage the five of them - Hyunwoo had to sit in the other edge with only half of his butt too.

"I heard you can call yourself a skateboarder once you have broken a board," Jen said and Hoseok looked at her like he thought she was only making it up.

"It's true," Yoonsun backed up the story. "And you can call yourself a skateboarder when you have fallen at least fifty times."

"I think I'm at fourty-nine," Hoseok said bluntly but he was obviously joking. He hadn't actually been counting his failings but he knew that there were already many.

"Hey Hyungwon," Gingerboy called out when he arrived to them with Sumin. Hyungwon had put his skateboard on the ground and sat on top of it since there wasn't any other places. "Your brother is already twenty, right?"

"Can I sit on your lap?" Sumin asked from Hoseok who at first wasn't sure if she was really talking to him. They had been in the same class for two years and never exchanged a word. Hoseok looked at her and she seemed to really be asking it in all seriousness.

"Sit here," Gingerboy offered his skateboard to her. She placed it on the ground next to Hoseok and sat down. "Can you ask if he could buy booze for us? Say that we will pay," he then continued to talk to Hyungwon.

"I can ask but I don't think he will," Hyungwon said and already took out his phone. Yongguk had bought him alcohol few times before but he always acted like it was a big burden for him.

"Okay, hold on a sec. Jooheon!" he suddenly raised his voice to get the attention of the two guys fooling around next to the ramp. They stopped what they were doing to head to the others. "Kihyun, what will you have?" Ginger started to ask around what alcohol everyone wanted.

"Look, I'm not taking orders. Just say how many people and he will buy what he wants. And you're all paying for it," Hyungwon said to make him stop what he was doing.

"Whatever," Gingerboy muttered, seeming to be irritated to get told off like that by Hyungwon.

"Isn't it ten of us here?" Sumin quickly calculated.

"Eleven," Hoseok corrected her.

"No need to buy for me and Sang," Yoonsun said and Hyungwon was trying to keep up with the count.

"So nine."

"Me neither," Jooheon had appeared next to them and was sitting on top of his bike.

"Eight..." Hyungwon called his brother.

While they were waiting for their alcohol to arrive, they just had some random conversations from Kihyun's motorcycle to Jen's that needed fixing - Kihyun said he would fix it but he was really busy - to Jooheon's girlfriend issues with Nahyun who he seemed to already be fighting with. Seriously, no one really cared about Jooheon's relationships but being good friends, they listened anyways.

"I say give her space and wait until she talks to you," Kihyun gave some advice.

"No way! That's the worst. You have to go see her personally and apologize whatever you have or haven't done," Jen quickly said and because she was a girl, Jooheon listened to her better.

"Should I go now then?" Jooheon raised the front wheel of his BMX up already to turn around and leave.

"No, no. You can deal with her tomorrow," Gingerboy assured and earned an angry glare from Sumin.

"You don't know nothing about girls," Sumin talked to him like she was giving a lecture to a little boy. Gingerboy just looked at her in the eyes for a while, then groaned and looked away.

He took his cap off his head to push his hair back - you know, the thing guys always do when they wear snapbacks - and at the same time a joint of weed fell off from under it. Hyunwoo's eyes widened as soon as he noticed it.

"You little shit," he hissed. Ginger quickly picked the joint up and tossed it to Hoseok.

"That wasn't mine, I was just keeping it for Hoseok," he explained but Hyunwoo didn't seem to be buying it.

"Yeah it's mine," Hoseok said. He took his lighter and lit up Ginger's joint. He tried to smoke it like he would do a regular cigarette but it felt different. He let out a small cough and then covered his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to stop himself from coughing.

Hyungwon leaned forward to take the weed from Hoseok and smoked it a bit. Ginger decided to fuck it and took the joint next, not caring about Hyunwoo anymore.

"Gallagher you're so short you don't even get high. You only get medium," Hoseok joked and it took a while for Gingerboy to understand it. Sumin in the other hand thought it was really funny and while laughing she leaned against Hoseok's leg that was on the level of her head.

Ginger noticed it and pushed her away from Hoseok. Then he ordered Sumin to stand up and switch places with him so that he was sitting next to Hoseok and she between him and Hyungwon. Hoseok knew there were something going on.

The joint of weed traveled along them back to Hoseok who took a few hits before pressing it against the bench. Gingerboy looked at the situation with sad eyes. It was last precious joint.

"'Guk is here!" he then shouted and all the attention turned to the fancy car - the same one Hyungwon had taken Hoseok with the week before - pulling to the skate park.


	22. Chapter 22

"Don't you want to stay and drink with us?" Hyungwon asked after Yongguk had given them the alcohols he had bought and gotten what he thought was enough money from them. Yongguk gave him a 'are you kidding me' look and walked back to the car. "He is so antisocial..." Hyungwon muttered when Yongguk started the car and drove away.

"At least he picked some good stuffs," Changkyun said and took a can from the pile that was in the middle of them.

"Hyungwon. Does your brother always do what you tell him to?" Jooheon asked casually but with a hopeful look on his face.

Hyungwon snorted. "Seriously? Him doing this was like a miracle from 7th heaven or something," he said, making Jooheon's look change to disappointment  - he was probably hoping he could get some advantages out of Hyungwon and Yongguk.

"Do you have your speaker with you?" Jooheon then asked another question. Although he was usually good with his mouth but because Hyungwon hadn't been with them like this in a long time, it felt weird and he was keeping a formal tone.

"I do. Also why are you suddenly not talking casually to me?" Hyungwon said lightly and took out his speaker. He turned it on and connected his phone in it. "Any song requests."

"Skateboard P!" Yoonsun yelped before anyone else could say anything. Hyungwon searced for that song and soon it started playing.

"Can we do something fun?" Gingerboy asked and opened a bottle he had taken from what Yongguk brought.

"Like what?" Jooheon questioned.

"Truth or dare?" Sumin suggested, earning groans from all the guys.

"That's a no-no," Kihyun laughed. Truth or dare was a game that split opinions. You either oppose it with all your heart or favor it in every situation - belonging to the latter group means you want to dig out secrets from someone around. In a squad like this it wasn't possible option until everyone was wasted.

"Does anyone have empty cans?" Jooheon looked around but everyone shook their heads. Hoseok cringed at the thought of that can hitting game and suddenly he felt like the old scars were hurting again. Still he would have rather played that game than truth or dare.

"You're not doing that," Hyunwoo said, being the dad of the group who always ruined everything that was fun. "Come up with something less self-destructive."

"Does anyone have weed?" Gingerboy asked, prolonging the last word to express his boredom and leaning against the shoulder of the girl sitting next to him.

"You were supposed to quit smoking weed," Hyunwoo sighed and looked at Gingerboy with his eyebrows raised up.

"And you were supposed to not bitch that much," Ginger said back in an annoyed manner. "Like Hoseok said, I don't even get that high so it doesn't matter."

Hoseok's eyes suddenly met with Hyungwon's and they both smiled and shook their heads as if the conversation between Ginger and Hyunwoo had been amusing in a way. After that, Hyungwon kept glancing to Hoseok's direction every now and then and every time Hoseok noticed it, they either had a short staring contest or smiled and looked away.

Hoseok took a drink to distract himself from the fact that he couldn't keep his eyes away from Hyungwon - he couldn't make it obvious and there was a risk someone would notice.

Fourty-five minutes later they were just having lightweight conversations about this and that. Hoseok thought that it was weird their group came along that well because there were so many different people.

"But if a certain super volcano erupted, there would be so much ash we wouldn't see sun in a long time and basically the whole planet would die," Hoseok said when their conversation had drifted to such topic at one point.

"Did you learn that in school?" Hyungwon asked, sounding a bit amused. Hoseok just carefully nodded. "Did you actually learn something in school?"

"Our Hoseok..." Yoonsun giggled and fluffed Hoseok's hair.

"So that means all of us could suddenly just die and we can never know if this is the last time we are seeing each other," Gingerboy said. He was staring somewhere in front of him, looking like he was really thinking about deeply in that little brain of his. He sounded high.

"Well technically yes," Kihyun told after thinking about it for a while. Hoseok got up from the bench and Ginger stole his place as soon as he could.

"Can I use your board for a while?" he asked Hyungwon who gave his skateboard to Hoseok without saying anything. Hoseok skated towards the ramps and Hyungwon looked after him over his shoulder.

Some time later Changkyun was showing off some tricks to the others and Hyungwon walked to where Hoseok was. No one else than him had really paid attention to Hoseok.

"Do you want to leave?" Hyungwon asked when he got to Hoseok.

"Well kind of," Hoseok shrugged - he wanted to leave because he wasn't feeling so good but didn't want it to seem like he didn't like hanging out with the others.

"You haven't seen all Star Wars movies?!" he could hear Jooheon yelling and it caught his attention for a moment.

"I haven't don't kill me," Kihyun said and was prepared to run away because Jooheon seemed to be frustrated about the fact that someone seriously hadn't seen all the movies. There was few others who hadn't seen them all too but they didn't want to admit it.

"Let's go then," Hyungwon said, nodding his head to the other direction. Hoseok picked up his - or actually it was Hyungwon's - skateboard and started walking next to Hyungwon towards the others.

"I don't think we get to go just like that," Hoseok suddenly stopped on his tracks. Hyungwon was about to ask what but then he noticed someone familiar coming towards the park with a longboard.

"Oh hell no," Hyungwon started walking past the others at the bench faster so he could stop Gunhee.

Hoseok didn't want to get involved so he sat back down with the others for a while. Everyone seemed to be quite nervous, Lee Sang especially, but they were trying to not pay any attention to Gunhee, pretending he wasn't even there. All of them had such different relationships with Gunhee. Jen was his ex, Changkyun his bitch, Ginger his junior, Lee Sang his enemy and Yoonsun just didn't like him. Then there was Sumin who had no idea who even was that guy - and who was now sitting next to Hoseok again which Gingerboy wasn't all that happy about.

"What are you doing here?" Hyungwon asked after Gunhee had stopped in front of him.

"I have some business to take care of," Gunhee said and walked past Hyungwon to go to the others. He sat in between Jen and Changkyun. Hyungwon sighed at his failed attempt to stop Gunhee from ruining their night. "First of all, you owe me," he looked straight at Gingerboy who was uncomfortably shifting his sitting position.

"Uhm... Can I pay you next week? I'm a little short on money right now?" Gingerboy asked, scratching the back of his neck and avoiding Gunhee's pressuring gaze.

"That's what you said last week."

"Well..." Gingerboy took out his wallet and opened it. He stared at it like he was waiting for money to suddenly appear. Hoseok had never seen him that anxious.

"Here," Hyunwoo gave something to Gunhee and Gingerboy looked at his savior with glazed eyes. Gunhee counted the bills and put them in his pocket without saying anything.

"Next," Gunhee turned to Changkyun. "I'm gonna call you tomorrow and you better answer right away. I need you to do something."

"What is it?" Changkyun asked. Hoseok was following their conversation and everyone around carefully. He noticed Hyungwon giving looks to him and when Hoseok looked at him with questioning expression, Hyungwon nodded his head as a sign that they should go.

Hoseok got up carefully as if he was afraid someone would notice him. Gingerboy and Sumin being the only ones who said bye to him, he walked to Hyungwon and they continued their way away from the park.

"Poor Changkyun," Hyungwon said when they had gotten far enough, looking back to the park where the others were still suffering from Gunhee's presence. "I wonder if he will ever get rid of Gunhee."

"With that personality of his I think not," Hoseok laughed, thinking about how Changkyun would still listen to Gunhee when they were eighty.

"Also, forget what I said about Gingerboy and Hyunwoo having something in between them. Did you notice how jealous he was whenever Sumin got close to you?"

Hoseok nodded. He found it weird that Ginger was acting like that. What was more weird was Sumin's actions towards Hoseok.

"Don't let her do that to you, though. You're mine, remember?" Hyungwon smiled sweetly and Hoseok felt like cringing although he found himself liking Hyungwon's words a bit.

"What a love triangle," Hoseok sighed and looked away. He noticed that Hyungwon wasn't walking next to him anymore and looked over his shoulder to see that the guy had stopped and was staring at Hoseok with a serious look.

"Promise me you won't let anyone else get close to you like that," he said. Hoseok giggled and started running away. Hyungwon ran after him and because Hoseok was running slow on purpose, he quickly caught him and wrapped his arms around him from behind. "Promise," he demanded, his lips against Hoseok's neck.

"Alright, alright. I promise," Hoseok quickly said because he was afraid Hyungwon would tickle him or something.

"Good," Hyungwon pecked his lips. "I'm the only one who can do this."

"Are you?" Hoseok asked with a mischievous look, rising his eyebrows.

"Do you want to die?" Hyungwon's face turned blank.

"...yes," Hoseok couldn't help but admit even though he knew it was a joke.

"I shouldn't have asked that. Let's go," Hyungwon quickly said, trying to get the attention away from the previous thing. They continued walking towards Hyungwon's house.

They arrived and went in from Hyungwon's door. Hoseok noticed that the room had been cleaned and that there was now a lot of free space on the floor. He found it weird.

"What have you done?" he asked laughing and looked at Hyungwon.

"I just cleaned a bit. I was bored," Hyungwon said but it sounded like a lie. He sat on the couch. The table in front of it that had previously been filled with trash was clean too. "Oh, right. Where do you want to sleep? With me?" he asked and added a suggestion to make it so Hoseok wouldn't have a change.

"Can I sleep on the floor?" Hoseok asked, not falling for the suggestion. Even though they were officially a thing, he still felt uncomfortable to think about sleeping with Hyungwon - this time he wasn't as drunk as he had been the last time when he had found himself spooning with Hyungwon.

"Sure," Hyungwon seemed disappointed. "But I might fall from the bed. And it's really cold on the floor so if you get cold during the night it would be better to sleep with me."

"Thanks but I don't get cold easily so I will sleep on the floor," Hoseok sat on the couch next to him. Hyungwon gave him the controller that had just automatically came to his hand as he had sat down.

"I will get set a mattress for you then," he said and walked to the other side of the room to take a mattress from behind a closet. Hoseok turned the console on and started playing a game without paying any attention to Hyungwon setting the bed ready for him. "Are you tired already?" Hyungwon asked when he was about done.

"Yeah but want to play one game before sleeping?" Hoseok asked, his eyes fixed on the TV screen as he played. He wasn't exactly that tired because he was used to sleeping just few hours due to his troubles with falling asleep but at that moment he still felt like he could lay down.

"Are you okay? You seemed to be kinda out of it before we left from the park," Hyungwon walked back to him and sat down. He took another controller so they could play a game as Hoseok suggested.

"My head just feels heavy for some reason. I think I'm getting sick," Hoseok said and ended the game he was playing so they could start another one against each other.

Hyungwon looked at him, examining his face carefully. Hoseok was still just concentrating on the screen. In Hyungwon's eyes it looked like he was trying to distract himself that way or as if there was something going on inside his mind and he wanted to hide it by pretending to be doing something.

They played the game without talking and after it was over, turned the console off to go to bed. Hoseok laid on the mattress that was on the floor. He couldn't help but look when Hyungwon took his shirt and pants off. Seeing how Hyungwon's abs flexed as he took his shirt off, Hoseok felt something weird he hadn't really felt ever before in his life. It was thirst. And not for water.

"Stop staring," Hyungwon whispered and tried to cover some of his body with his arms as he ran to his bed and hid himself under the covers.

"I wasn't staring," Hoseok said bluntly - he sure acted well.

"Yes you were," Hyungwon laughed. "I love it when you try to hide the gay you say isn't even there. I can see it so clearly."

"Shut up," Hoseok muttered and pulled the blanket over his head. A few moments later he revealed it again. "You have really nice body so what do you expect me to do?" he then raised his voice in a frustrated manner.

"Well if I saw a guy with nice body I would most definitely stare so I understand you," Hyungwon said with a casual tone, trying to make Hoseok less uncomfortable. "Are you going to sleep with your clothes on? I have already seen you in only boxers so there is no need to feel embarrassed."

Hoseok seemed to be thinking for a while and then started to take out his pants under the blanket. He was used to always wear full clothing in every situation - even sleeping - when he was around people. It was not that he was insecure his body, although he had complaints about that too, it was mostly just about the scars on his wrists. He was so ashamed of them that to only think about that Hyungwon knew about them made him feel agonized. But Hyungwon knew and there was nothing to do to it.

"Sleep well," Hyungwon said and looked away.

There was nothing after that and Hyungwon thought Hoseok fell asleep. He wasn't tired at all himself so he just laid on his bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking - mostly about the guy sleeping next to him. Half an hour later, though, he could hear Hoseok moving. He turned that way to see what the guy was doing and saw Hoseok putting a hoodie on.

"Just come up here if you are cold," he groaned and grabbed Hoseok's hand.

Hoseok set his hoodie back down and slowly got up. Hyungwon lifted up the covers so Hoseok could crawl under there. He put his arms around Hoseok's body. Hoseok could feel warmness spread to his body when Hyungwon held him so close. He never thought he would like it that much. Hyungwon was soothing his hair with his other hand and Hoseok couldn't help but smile.


	23. Chapter 23

When Hoseok woke up and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Hyungwon in front of his face, staring at him. He was waiting for him to look away but Hyungwon just kept looking, getting a small smile on his lips too.

"Good morning. Or should I say day," Hyungwon said with a soft voice.

"What time is it," Hoseok groaned and pulled the blanket, that was covering both of them, better on top of him. He felt like he had never slept that well.

"Almost two," Hyungwon answered.

"What?" Hoseok raised his voice and quickly sat up to look at the clock on the opposite side of the room.

"You slept for fourteen hours," Hyungwon put his hand on Hoseok's shoulder to pull him back to lay down.

"What the fuck..." Hoseok muttered and closed his eyes when his head hit the pillow again. He found it hard to believe that he actually slept for that long when he usually couldn't sleep at all.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"No... Or at least I can't recall," Hoseok  tried to thing for a while but couldn't remember. He usually never remembered his dreams which was quite boring.

"You seemed like you had," Hyungwon looked down while slowly caressing Hoseok's forearm. Hoseok felt like he had already gotten used to being intimate with Hyungwon and didn't mind at all. He could have stayed there forever.

"What did I do?"

"You were moving a lot and I had to hold you so you wouldn't fall off the bed. Also you kept muttering something," Hyungwon explained and met Hoseok's eyes again.

"That's embarrassing," Hoseok snorted.

"No it's not. I was afraid you would really fall and pull me with you," Hyungwon laughed.

"Shall I do that?" Hoseok leaned back on the edge of the bed and Hyungwon quickly pulled him closer towards the center.

Hoseok put his arms around Hyungwon as well and leaned back more until he could feel himself falling down from the bed. They stumbled down on the mattress that was below the bed, Hyungwon, who couldn't stop what was happening, on top of Hoseok.

"Ouch..." Hoseok complained because Hyungwon's elbow had hit his side as they fell.

"Why did you do that?" Hyungwon asked and tried to get off from on top of Hoseok but couldn't because Hoseok held him down. Hoseok pushed his lips up as a sign that he wanted Hyungwon to kiss him. Hyungwon grabbed the edge of the blanket that had fallen down with them and pulled it to cover their heads as he leaned down to do what Hoseok wanted.

They kissed slowly, Hyungwon's tongue going in and out Hoseok's mouth every now and then and Hoseok returning with the same action. Hoseok had his hands behind Hyungwon's neck and he found his fingers pulling Hyungwon's hair. Because Hyungwon had covered them with the blanket, they suffered from hotness and lack of air quickly and had to stop kissing to put their heads out.

"How are you acting like this all of sudden? Is something wrong?" Hyungwon asked, stroking Hoseok's messy hair and pushing it off his forehead.

"Like what?" Hoseok questioned with a small smile.

"While ago you would have avoided closeness like this but now you refuse to let go of me," Hyungwon explained, continuing what he was doing.

"Do you not like it?" Hoseok pouted.

"I like it very much," Hyungwon smiled and pecked Hoseok's lips.

"It's because you kiss so well. And you are warm," Hoseok sounded like he was a bit embarrassed to say that.

"I kiss well? How many people you have been kissing in your life?"

"Only one. But I can tell you're better than anyone else."

"That's bullshit," Hyungwon said. He stretched his arms under Hoseok's neck and laid his face down against the mattress. He, unlike Hoseok, hadn't really gotten that much sleep and therefor he was tired.

They laid there for a while. It was silent, only their breaths and some random sounds of ventilation or air conditioner. Then Hoseok could heard some loud sounds, bangs and people yelling. He raised his head a bit to hear better.

"Are your parents fighting?" he asked although it was almost clear that was the case.

"Mm..." Hyungwon muttered. He reached over Hoseok to grab a pillow from the bed and covered his head with it. Hoseok looked at him and then back to the direction of the stairs where the yells kept coming from.

"It's because of you we failed raising both of our sons!" he heard a female voice yell and shivers ran down his spine. He glanced back at Hyungwon and decided to wrap his arms around the guy who suddenly didn't seem that mature and carefree anymore.

"Don't bring them into this when you're the one who keeps judging them and making their life difficult! You do that to everyone in this household," male voice then yelled back.

"You can't hear them, right," Hoseok whispered to Hyungwon who was still hiding under a pillow.

"I don't care," Hyungwon muttered. Hoseok tried to ignore the fighting adults and just kept hugging Hyungwon.

"Are we gonna stay like this the whole day?" he asked when the fighting finally seemed to have stopped. Hyungwon revealed his face again and moved the pillow under his head.

"Do you want to do something else?"

"Not really... But I need to go home today because my parents don't like me staying out for more than one night in a row."

"Right. But don't your parents ever notice that you don't really even study?" Hyungwon asked.

Hoseok shook his head. "They never come to my room because they just assume I'm studying."

"That's convenient, I guess."

"I'm going to be in so much shit when they find out I actually haven't studied in years."

"That's why we need to get your grades up. Let's study together some day next week," Hyungwon said, earning only a nod from Hoseok. He leaned forward to press his lips against Hoseok's.

Hoseok tried to kiss him back but Hyungwon already pulled back, causing Hoseok to be a bit disappointed.

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I'm actually doing this with someone who is two years younger than me," Hyungwon said, running his fingers through the soft waves of Hoseok's hair.

"What is so hard to believe about that? Have you never hooked up younger people?" Hoseok asked, knowing that Hyungwon had been with so many different people, not as in dating but just hooking up and therefore, there must have been many ones who were even younger than Hoseok.

"Oh you don't even want to know," Hyungwon let out a laugh. Hoseok would be upset to know just how many young girls - and boys - Hyungwon had had in his bed. He suddenly realized that his previous sentence made no sense. "I can't even remember what I was thinking just now when I said that thing."

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I'm actually doing this with a skateboarding legend," Hoseok said, making the last word heavy.

Hyungwon raised his brows. "Legend? Am I a legend?"

"You are."

"How am I a legend?"

"Everyone at the park is always like oh, Hyungwon is so great but he is shady and doesn't come here often because he thinks we are peasants. He is like a mysterious fuckboy. He once kissed me at a party and it was amazing, I will never forget about it," Hoseok talked as if he was trying to mock someone's voice.

"No one actually said that last thing, right?" Hyungwon asked, sounding a bit worried that what Hoseok said was true.

"No," Hoseok laughed. "But I heard a lot about your kissings."

"Oh no..."

"Did you really kiss Gingerboy?" Hoseok asked, not being that serious but just joking around a bit - he still expected a real answer though.

"I did..."

"What the hell were you thinking?" Hoseok laughed.

"I don't even know," Hyungwon laughed too. He seemed to be a bit ashamed of that.

"He said he even kissed you back until he realized it was you."

"He seemed so shocked," Hyungwon thought about the angry redhead. "Said he will kick my balls if I ever touch him. He was so angry I was really scared for my balls' safety."

Hoseok couldn't help but laugh. "You traumatized the poor fifteen-year old."

"Should I apologize?"

"No," Hoseok said. They both didn't say anything in a while until Hoseok spoke again. It was a bit weird how he was this talkative now when usually he didn't really have much to say. "The girls talked about you a lot and Hyungwon are you bi or what?"

"Yeah I'm bi. What about you then? Are you still denying that you're gay?" Hyungwon answered like talking about his sexual orientation was nothing to him.

"I don't know..." Hoseok muttered. He usually thought himself that he was gay but admitting it was too much. He wondered if he could bisexual like Hyungwon.

"Well," Hyungwon kissed him. "Do you like girls?"

"Not really," Hoseok said.

"There you have your answer," Hyungwon smiled and then kissed him again. Hoseok didn't really like to label himself. He wanted to be seen as just Hoseok, not as a gay person or something else like that. That was why he tried not to think about his sexual orientation much, although it still bothered him often - why on top of all things that was wrong in his life, he couldn't be like everyone else and had to like guys.

-

It was already past eleven and they had done nothing expect laid on the bed. They had even turned the TV screen so they could play while laying down. Empty bowls of black bean noodles they had ordered were on the floor next to them. Hoseok announced that he thought it was time for him to go home before it would get too late. His mother had already called him twice, asking him when he will be home and the both times Hoseok had just replied with 'in a while'.

"Do you want me to take you?" Hyungwon asked. He was kind of disappointed that Hoseok needed to leave so he took his time getting up from the bed and looking at his phone.

"I can just call my mom to get me from the park," Hoseok said because he didn't want to bother Hyungwon. Also he knew that the car Hyungwon rode the last time wasn't even his and that he didn't have a driving licence.

"Don't call her. I will take you," Hyungwon sounded determined. He wanted to stay with Hoseok as long as possible. After being together for over a day already, he had gotten hooked on the other guy's presence. "Go out from my door and I will see you at the garage in a bit."

Hyungwon started walking upstairs. Hoseok took his backpack and skateboard - the only things he had with him - and went out. It was already getting dark and the wind made the weather a bit chilly. Hoseok was almost starting to shiver already when Hyungwon came half-running from the front door, holding keys in his hands.

"My poor baby... Did you get cold already?" Hyungwon asked, pouting his lips. He unlocked the doors of the cars and Hoseok waited for him to enter the car first.

"You're not going to start calling me baby or I will hit you," Hoseok muttered, hoping that he wouldn't blush. Hyungwon opened the front door and stepped in the car. Hoseok did the same.

"Then what will I call you? Sweetie?"

"No."

"Love?"

"No."

"Munchkin?"

"What the fuck, no."

"Sugar...pie?"

"No."

"Seokkie?"

"No way. Just call me Hoseok, please," Hoseok sighed. Hyungwon let out a laugh and started the car. Then he started driving towards Hoseok's house.

Hyungwon looked at Hoseok from the corner of his eye. Hoseok seemed like he was pissed but was actually only acting like he was. In reality he thought Hyungwon trying to come up with a pet name for him was kind of cute.

"Baby," Hyungwon silently blurted out and kept looking at Hoseok to see his reaction.

Hoseok pressed his lips together to hold back a smile. "Yah! Stop doing that," he then yelled. Hyungwon laughed again.

"Oh, is that Gingerboy?" he asked when he had taken his eyes back to the road and seen a small boy sitting on the edge of the sidewalk.

"It's him," Hoseok said and leaned forward to see better. Gingerboy was resting his elbows on his knees and his head on his left hand. The right one was smoking a cigarette. "Stop for a moment."

Hyungwon felt it was a bit suspicious that Ginger was there but he slowed down the speed and stopped the car a bit after the boy. Hoseok got off the car. Hyungwon stayed in there but followed Hoseok from the side mirror.

"Gallagher, hey," Hoseok greeted with a low voice when he got to Gingerboy and sat down next to him. Ginger wouldn't raise his head and was just staring somewhere in front of him but from the one side of his face Hoseok could already tell that he had been beaten up. Even the left side of his face had bruises and blood. "What happened?"

"My dad's just trippin' over nothing," Gingerboy said and brought the cigarette to his lips. It was menthol, his usual favorite. He sniffled and Hoseok wasn't sure if he was crying, sick or had a bleeding nose. Out of those three the last one was the most possible one.

"Did he beat you?" Hoseok asked although he already knew the answer himself. Gingerboy just nodded. "Where are you going to go?"

"Back inside in a while. I don't have nowhere else to go, Hoseok," Ginger finally turned his head to look at the other guy. Hoseok could finally see properly just how bad his face looked.

"Can't you go to Hyunwoo's house?" Hoseok suggested. He knew Gingerboy often spent nights there when he didn't want to go home.

"Nah, Ion want to make him worried. And he will just nag at me," Gingerboy focused back on the ground where he was now dumping the cigarette.

Hoseok looked back at Hyungwon's car and thought for a while, tensing his muscles so the cold wouldn't make him shiver. "Come with me," he said and stood up.

"What?"

"Just come," he pointed towards the car with his head and started walking there. After getting halfway to the car, he looked over his shoulder to see Gingerboy slowly getting himself up and walking towards the car too, limping a bit on his way.

"What is this now?" Hyungwon asked when both of them got in. Hoseok in the front seat and Gingerboy in the back.

"I'm taking Gingerboy to my place."

Hyungwon gave him a questioning look but Hoseok just told him to continue driving. After a short, silent drive, they had already gotten to Hoseok's house.

"Wait outside for a sec. I need to talk to Hyungwon," Hoseok said and the red haired guy kindly stepped out of the car without a word. Hoseok looked out the window at the young guy and then back at Hyungwon.

"Are you sure of this?" Hyungwon asked, lowering his voice a bit so the guy standing outside wouldn't hear them.

"What is there to be unsure about? The poor boy just needs a place to sleep in," Hoseok said, tilting his head a bit because he couldn't understand why was Hyungwon worried about something like that.

"I just... Okay," Hyungwon sighed. He grabbed Hoseok by the collar and pulled him closer. "See you soon," he whispered and then pressed their lips together. Hoseok replied to the kiss but needed to keep it short so he pulled away before Hyungwon did. After Hyungwon gave him two more quick kisses, Hoseok was ready to go.

When he stepped out of the car, Gingerboy's back was facing him so he wasn't sure if the redhead saw him and Hyungwon. Neither of them said anything and they walked in the house to Hoseok's room. Hoseok guided Gingerboy to sit on the bed.

"Uhm... Should I bring you some things to clean those wounds with? And a few band-aids," he asked, pointing at the same side of his own face where Ginger had the most blood.

"No thanks. They'll look much more tough if I just leave them like this," Gingerboy smiled and Hoseok understood his logic - he would have done the same if he was Ginger.

"Alright, well... You can sleep on my bed and I will go sleep on living room," Hoseok muttered a bit awkwardly. He had never had someone over so he didn't know what to do. At this situation, he didn't feel like suggesting to play console games was the best thing - that was something Hyungwon would have probably done. Gingerboy looked like he could rather use some sleep.

"Thanks, Hoseok," Ginger said and pulled a small smile. Hoseok turned around to leave the room but Gingerboy grabbed his wrist. He turned back and saw the guy standing up.

"What is it-?" he asked but the sentence got cut off when he felt Gingerboy's lips against his own ones.


	24. Chapter 24

 "Okay, so..." Hoseok started when they were both sitting on the edge of his bed, awkwardly not looking at each other and just staring at their hands because of what had just happened. "You like me?"

"I do," Gingerboy admitted although it was already clear enough since he had made a move kissed Hoseok.

"Why? Or like, since when?" Hoseok was full of questions but at the same time he was starting to understand some things. For example when they were at the park and Gingerboy seemed to be jealous of Sumin approaching Hoseok, it was because he liked him, not her.

"I don't know. My feelings have just been growing stronger every time I see you," Ginger was quiet and he wasn't using his own slang like he usually did. Hoseok felt bad for him. When Ginger had kissed him, Hoseok had taken a while to react and calmly push him away. Gingerboy had looked like he was full of quilt straight away but he wasn't surprised as if he had been expecting for Hoseok to do that.

"I'm sorry Gallagher..." Hoseok muttered and put his hands in his hair and pulling it to express his frustration of not knowing what to do now. "I wish I could give you a chance but I have someone else."

"I know... It's Hyungwon, isn't it?" Gingerboy sighed and could notice Hoseok slightly nodding. "I should have realized that but my mind just kept denying that it's true."

"It's alright. I understand you," Hoseok didn't understand but he just wanted Gingerboy to feel better. Why the hell would Gingerboy like him out of everyone. Why was everyone suddenly liking him when all his life no one had ever shown any interest towards him.

"I'm really sorry," Gingerboy finally raised his head and looked at Hoseok. "Can we act like nothing happened?"

"Yes," Hoseok lied - it would be hard to act like that and they would probably be awkward around each other for a while.

"Please don't tell Hyungwon or he will kill me," Gingerboy really seemed to be afraid of Hyungwon when he thought about what the older guy would do if he knew.

Hoseok didn't say anything. He was thinking deep. He knew he needed to tell Hyungwon because if he didn't and the truth would come up from somewhere else, Hyungwon would hate him. Then again he didn't want to tell, thinking about how mad Hyungwon would be at him and Ginger.

"Sleep well," he said instead and walked out from the room, closing the door behind him. As soon as he got out, he let out a deep breath and leaned against the wall.

He walked to a couch and laid down on it, covering himself with a rug. While Gingerboy was sleeping like a log, Hoseok couldn't fall asleep for several hours. His mind was a complete mess and he felt so uneasy he wanted to just run away and hide from his problems.

-

In the morning he woke up early because his mother came in the living room and turned a TV on. He wasn't really feeling tired but still didn't have energy to move his body.

"What are you doing here? Go sleep in your own room," his mother snapped at him when she noticed that he had woken up. Hoseok groaned and with a lot of struggle, managed to get himself up from the couch. He walked to his room.

Gingerboy was still in deep sleep and Hoseok didn't want to wake him up so he did the same thing he had done with Hyungwon and took out his books to start studying. He took the same books he had had the last time and continued writing where he had left off. Hyungwon had back then made fun of the things he had written but he continued in the same way.

He had an exam coming up the next week and if he could do at least a bit better from his usual level and get himself up a few places, maybe the teachers and principal would forget about contacting his parents. He wondered if he could ask help with cheating from Jooheon but decided he would only do that if he got really desperate.

Jooheon wasn't good at school either but he put a lot of work into cheating. If he worked as hard on studying as he did on cheating, his grades would probably be good just like that. The times when he didn't have enough motivation to make cheat sheets or just forgot, he always failed but when he cheated, he got average grades.

Unlike previously with Hyungwon, this time Hoseok noticed that Gingerboy woke up and didn't have to get startled. From the corner of his eye he noticed Ginger moving to lay on his back and opening his eyes but just continued studying so there wouldn't be any weird situations.

The morning continued awkward. Ginger was laying on the bed, playing with his phone and Hoseok tried his best to study. Hoseok couldn't take it for long and a bit over half an hour later, he put his books away.

"I'm going to the park. You can stay here if you want or come with me," he said and stood up, grabbing his backpack from the ground.

"Thanks but I'm just goin' to go home. I've some things to take care of," Gingerboy muttered and put his phone away to start getting himself up from the bed.

Hoseok waited for Ginger to walk out first and then followed him. He felt like it was somewhat awkward between them and he didn't like it one bit because he wanted things be back to normal. It was really weird being with Ginger without the redhead constantly joking around.

"Uhm... Do you want me to borrow you a bike or something?" Hoseok asked, feeling uncomfortable that he had to be the one to break the silence.

"No. I'll walk. Just go and don't wait for me," Gingerboy started walking along the side of the road towards his own house. Hoseok felt bad to see him walk alone, knowing that he didn't live that close to Hoseok and had to walk for almost forty-five minutes, but Hoseok knew he had nothing to say against Gingerboy's will.

Trying his best not to think about Gingerboy by thinking about the guy in his life, Hyungwon, instead, Hoseok cycled to the skate park.

Even after thinking for the whole ride about how he wanted Hyungwon to be at the park, he still got surprised when he got closer and noticed that Hyungwon actually was there. Getting a smile on his face and forgetting all the struggles he previously had in mind, he arrived to the park and waited for Hyungwon to notice him.

He left his bike further and walked to the bench. He noticed that there was a new-looking skateboard there but didn't really pay attention to it and just sat down. Hyungwon, who had just been skating around the park, smiled widely when he saw Hoseok and started heading towards the guy.

"My instincts told me you would come here early today and looks like I was right," Hyungwon said, having to raise his voice a bit because he was still far. He got off his skateboard and kicked it up to catch it with his hand and sat down next to Hoseok. Then he took the brand new broad from next to him and showed it to Hoseok. "What do you think?"

Hoseok looked at the board for a while. Hyungwon flipped it around to show the bottom. There was a Palace logo and the base was black and white design. It was cool and just Hoseok's style. "It's cool. Where did you get it from?"

"I know a guy who resells these," Hyungwon ran his fingers along the surface. The more Hoseok looked at it the nicer it seemed. He thought about how unfortunate it would be when someone would grind it along a rail for the first time and the bottom wouldn't be like that anymore.

"Don't tell me it's Yongguk again," Hoseok said and when Hyungwon laughed, he knew he was right.

"Yeah. Anyways, it's yours," Hyungwon gave the board to him and when Hoseok just stared at it with a dumbfounded expression without taking it, Hyungwon set it down on his lap. "The trucks are new too but I set them more loose like you had on that Changkyun's board."

Hoseok set the skateboard on the ground and moved it a bit with his feet. Then he stood up, kicked some speed from the ground properly and lifted both of his feet on top of the skateboard. He didn't dare to do anything that would destroy the bottom just yet and was only skating on the flat ground and occasionally going up a ramp, letting the board go back down on the midway up. Hyungwon watched him for a while and then continued skateboarding as well.

"Does Hoseok have a new skateboard already?" Changkyun asked when he arrived together with Jooheon to the skate park. "Show me that," he said when Hoseok came to them. Hoseok got the skateboard up from the ground and gave it to Changkyun.

"Woah," Jooheon let out as soon as he saw the board. "Where did you get that from."

"Hyungwon. Apparently his brother sells those or something," Hoseok said bluntly and Changkyun gave him back the board.

"Hyungwon is spoiling you real good with his money," Jooheon grinned and looked over Changkyun's shoulder to Hyungwon who most likely heard it because he wasn't far.

"Do I need to remind you of that time you bought a skateboard to Changkyun for no reason?" Hoseok said because he didn't want Jooheon to think of anything about his and Hyungwon's relationship.

"I had a good reason that time," Jooheon tried to defend himself to hide the fact that he had bought Changkyun a board to make up for something he had done.

"Yeah and Hyungwon has a good reason for giving me that too," Hoseok muttered, hoping that Hyungwon wouldn't be listening to them.

"I didn't say anything," Jooheon laughed. "Chill out, man."

Hoseok was glad the conversation didn't go further. He went to sit on the bench and took a cigarette from his pocket. He lighted it up and saw Hyungwon coming to him but tried to act cool and just looked somewhere else while smoking his cigarette.

"Those two seem to be very interested in our relationship," Hyungwon whispered after he had sit down, leaning a bit towards Hoseok. "I think-."

"You think I should tell them, huh?" Hoseok guessed what he was about to say before he managed to finish his sentence. "I won't. I know you want me to tell everyone so it would be easier for you and you could hug and kiss me wherever we are."

"Do you read my mind?" Hyungwon asked. "But, so... You don't want that?"

"I don't," Hoseok said simply, looking at the two guys fooling around somewhere next to the other ramp.

"Now I'm sad," Hyungwon pouted and Hoseok glanced at him quickly before looking away again and bringing a cigarette on his lips.

"I have an exam on Wednesday so could we study before that? I could come to your place tomorrow?" Hoseok suggested.

"What are you going to his place for?" a voice suddenly came from behind him. Hoseok turned his head to see Hyunwoo's head between him and Hyungwon and almost got startled.

"Hi Hyunwoo," he simply greeted to avoid answering that question. Hyunwoo came to sit next to him.

"Sure," Hyungwon answered to Hoseok's previous question. He would have had something more to talk about with Hoseok but now he had to forget about them because Hyunwoo was there.

"Have you seen Ginger anywhere?" Hyunwoo asked, luckily for Hoseok forgetting what he had heard when he arrived. Hoseok froze when he heard Gingerboy's name and all the things that had happened with Ginger the last night came to his mind.

"I haven't," he quickly said after recovering from the mention of Gingerboy.

"What do you mean you haven't? He went to your place last night?" Hyungwon asked, revealing Hoseok's lie.

"Oh, right..." Hoseok quickly thought about what he would say. "He left early and went home. I haven't seen him after that."

"Alright, maybe he will come here soon then," Hyunwoo said, trying to sound more cheerful than Hoseok which wasn't hard at all. Hyunwoo took his scooter and started going towards the ramps with it.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" Hyungwon asked when the two of them were alone again.

"Where would we go?" Hoseok asked, pressing the burning end of his cigarette against the bench and then dropping it to the ground.

"I don't know. To my place maybe."

"Can't we just hang out here? I didn't get a change to go out yesterday." It wasn't that Hoseok didn't want to be alone with Hyungwon, he just wanted to be with the other guys too and skate. In his priorities skateboarding seemed to be a little bit higher than Hyungwon.

Hyungwon seemed to be disappointed that Hoseok didn't want to leave with him. He was a man with needs after all and he needed to fulfill those needs. Besides he didn't really care about the others and just wanted to be with Hoseok.

Some time later all five of them had ended up sitting on top of a ramp - or actually three sat up there while Jooheon and Changkyun were performing some new, weird tricks on the bottom. It looked pretty unsafe and the others were sure someone would get hurt soon.

"Someone give me a joint I'm about to go fucking insane," they could heard a voice from the other direction and everyone except Jooheon, who was too focused on his BMX, turned to that direction.

"What the hell happened to you," Hyunwoo asked when he noticed that Gingerboy's face was more beat up than usual. He wouldn't have had to ask because he knew but the question just came out.

"I don't have joints but I have these drugs," Changkyun took a small zip-lock bag with white pills from his pocket. "Long story short Gunhee pissed off his dealer and had me to get these for him," he explained when everyone gave him a questioning look. That still didn't explain everything because why the hell would he get involved with something like that.

"What is that?" Ginger asked, not sounding that interested in the drugs Changkyun had. He just wanted to smoke a joint.

"I don't know... Xanax?" Changkyun joked - he really wasn't sure what it was.

Gingerboy laughed. "Woulda been dope if it was Xanax," he said. Changkyun put the drugs away. He wouldn't have actually given them to Ginger even if the guy had wanted whatever those drugs were.

"I don't have a joint either but how about this?" Hoseok showed a RedBull can he had taken from his backpack. He needed to loosen the tension between him and Ginger somehow and decided that it was best to act friendly as usual.

"Hoseok, you're my savior," Ginger jumped up the ramp and sat on top of it next to Hoseok. He took the can. "This is almost better than any weed," he opened the can and Hoseok felt relived.

"But why are you showing up here like this? Are you on your meds?" Jooheon asked and finally showed that he had been concentrating on them the whole time.

"No but that has nothin' to do with this," Ginger snapped at him like the question had been particularly annoying for him. "My dad's giving me trouble and as if everythin' wasn't goin' to hell anyways."

After Gingerboy was done talking, Jooheon decided to start BMX-ing alone to the other ramp because if Gingerboy was in a mood like that, there were no good things that could happen to him.

"Do you still want to be here or can we go," Hyungwon cautiously tried, whispering quietly. He had lasted for a couple of hours already. If it wasn't for Hoseok he wouldn't have been there at all and he only stayed there because he was waiting for Hoseok to be willing to leave with him.

"Fine," Hoseok muttered. He left with Hyungwon and Ginger knew it was because of him.


	25. Chapter 25

As soon as they got to Hyungwon's house and the door had closed behind them, Hyungwon had already pressed Hoseok against that door, lifting him up by his thighs, and was kissing him. Hoseok felt really secured between Hyungwon and the wall, his legs on Hyungwon's hips.

"How are you so needy for me that you can barely hold yourself back for a few hours," Hoseok joked when he pulled away from the kiss and put his forehead together with Hyungwon's instead.

"I can see that you were too," Hyungwon kissed him again, letting his hands slowly travel along Hoseok's thigh towards his bottom.

"You make me feel like a girl," Hoseok said and tilted his head back so that Hyungwon couldn't kiss him anymore. "Let me down."

"Don't you like being a girl?" Hyungwon asked and set Hoseok back to the floor but kept him in a light hug.

"I like being a guy more," Hoseok grinned. He noticed that Hyungwon was slowly making him back away towards the bed and soon he was already laying there on his back.

"You would make a hot girl," Hyungwon said, coming on top of Hoseok and slowly leaning down. Hoseok lifted his head from the soft surface a bit to meet Hyungwon's lips, automatically bringing his hands behind Hyungwon's neck while doing so.

Hoseok had finally started to think that it wasn't that bad to be a bit submissive and let Hyungwon even dominate him a little bit. Hyungwon, who had grown his whole life always just dominating others, was for some reason not taking full advantage of his chance.

His kisses were still slow and his body was moving back and forth in sync with them. At first there was much air in between their bodies but as the kiss became deeper, Hyungwon leaned lower and as their bulges rubbed even better against each other, Hoseok became feeling more and more hot inside. He didn't want it to stop but he decided to switch things up.

He changed places with Hyungwon by pushing the guy up all the way until he was laying on his back in the other end of the bed, not breaking the kiss. Hoseok wasn't sure what exactly he was doing and guess some instincts just took control. Hyungwon let out a small 'woah' against Hoseok's mouth. Hoseok's dominating was much more sloppier and unsure than Hyungwon's. His kissing had less tongue but was much faster than Hyungwon's. Also there was a lot of hair pulling from Hyungwon's party because when his hands weren't busy holding him up, they had nothing else to do but to run along Hoseok's hair.

Hoseok was snapped back to reality when he felt Hyungwon's hands go under his shirt and realized that his shirt was about to be taken off. He got off from on top of Hyungwon.

"Let's play some FIFA," he said while walking towards the couch.

Hyungwon was like a kid who had just been banned for getting candy. He wanted to express his disappointment somehow but instead he just got up and followed Hoseok to the couch. "How can you make me feel like that and then just leave," he said inside his mind.

Hoseok just handed him a controller without even looking at him. His cheeks were red and his hair was messy and it took Hyungwon a while to get eyes off of him because he looked stunning like that.

"Should we get a new game? We always play FIFA," Hyungwon asked while starting the game. It already had their teams by default.

"I have only played this for a short time so I don't mind," Hoseok snorted, leaning back on the couch as the game began.

"Or then we should get some other hobbies. We are gonna become so skinny and pale like this," Hyungwon suggested and Hoseok looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Well there is skateboarding but you would rather be in a room with no windows alone with me," Hoseok made a flippant remark.

"True. We can go back out later tonight if you want to."

"It depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Nothing."

Hyungwon glanced at Hoseok quickly but then decided to focus on the game. He felt like something was going on. Something different from the usual. He knew Hoseok wouldn't talk about it even if he tried to ask so he decided to stay quiet. For the next hour or more, they would just play, talking about this and that and maybe once in a while stopping when one of them had to go to the bathroom.

At one point Hyungwon got so fed up with the game he suggested that they would watch Netflix instead. Hoseok was up for it even though he knew that when they would put on a series, they wouldn't see the light of the day anymore that day.

"What do you want to watch?" Hyungwon asked, scrolling through the list of recommended movies. Hoseok paid attention to the continue watching -list that had surprising amount of series like Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girls and The Vampire Diaries.

"Uhm... I don't know. You decide," Hoseok answered. He didn't have Netflix himself and usually just watched dramas or American TV-series illegally online instead.

"13 Reasons Why? I have heard a lot of good things about this," Hyungwon suggested, stopping at the said show. Hoseok immediately just shook his head. "Why not?"

"No. Just something else but that," Hoseok said with no feeling.

"Alright..." Hyungwon focused back on the scrolling. They ended up watching something called Riverdale which the only thing they knew about was that Cole Sprouse acted in it. 

-

"It's getting late," Hyungwon said when after what had seemed like just a few episodes he noticed that it was already dark outside. "Do you want to go to the park now?"

"Mm..." Hoseok muttered, his eyes still at the screen that was not paused on the first second of the next episode. Hyungwon wasn't sure if he was spacing off or actually looking at the screen.

"Really? Let's go then," Hyungwon stood up and was about to go grab his skateboard when Hoseok called his name. "Huh? Is something wrong?" he turned back around and went to sit on the couch next to Hoseok again. The way Hoseok's voice sounded didn't seem good.

"There is something I need to tell you," Hoseok let out, ending his stare towards the TV and turning to look at Hyungwon for a few seconds.

Hyungwon suddenly felt anxious. That was the power of that one sentence. It was like a thousand thoughts were running in his head but at the same time his mind was completely blank. "Sure. Go ahead," he gathered himself quickly and tried to seem normal.

"So... Last night," Hoseok started, giving a quick look to Hyungwon again to see how he was reacting. "When I was with Ginger..." Hoseok suddenly remembered how concerned Hyungwon had been about Gingerboy spending the night at Hoseok's and began to feel even more bad about what he was going to say.

"What is it?" Hyungwon asked when Hoseok was staying quiet and not continuing. "Hoseok what is it?" he raised his voice a bit.

"He kissed me," Hoseok got those three words out of his mouth with a voice that was a bit louder than a whisper. Then he bit his lips together and waited for Hyungwon's reaction.

Hyungwon reacted way differently than Hoseok had imagined. He had thought Hyungwon would just be disappointed and shown his madness by ignoring Hoseok or something but instead of anything like that, Hyungwon jumped back up and yelled a loud "What?!" which almost got Hoseok startled. "Why would he kiss you?"

"I don't know... At first I thought he was just upset but then he told me he has liked me for a while," Hoseok explained, trying his best to keep his voice in its normal tone so it wouldn't be visible how scared he was right now, especially when Hyungwon was yelling and seemed so furious. Suddenly he regretted talking and wished he would have just kept his mouth shut.

"I fucking knew something was going to happen," Hyungwon walked a small circle and tilted his head up as if he couldn't look at Hoseok. "Did something else happen? Did you kiss him back?"

"Hyungwon..." Hoseok muttered. Previously he didn't think it was that serious that Gingerboy kissed him because it didn't go any further than that and there was nothing he could have done to stop it but the way Hyungwon was acting now made him feel like it was the worst thing ever.

"Don't," Hyungwon firmly said and breathed in deep through his nose as if he was trying to calm himself down before exploding.

"Why are you getting so mad at me for someone kissing me when I know for a fact that you slept with someone last night!" Hoseok raised his voice to almost a yell. It wasn't his tone but his words that made Hyungwon's face freeze to a stone.

"What? How-," Hyungwon who had previously been yelling was now dead serious and almost as quiet as Hoseok had been.

"Do I even matter to you," Hoseok asked, back to his normal voice. "You should pick someone to fuck who is not in my class and won't post to Snapchat about you."

Hyungwon couldn't say anything when Hoseok had already walked to the door, quickly put his shoes on and went out. Hyungwon sat down on the couch again and buried his face in his hands. Hoseok didn't stay anywhere near Hyungwon's door and walked all the way to the road.

He sat on the edge of the sidewalk and took out his cigarette pack. He opened it and saw that there were only three cigarettes left. He took one out anyways and held it in between his lips while looking for a lighter and already starting to stress about the fact that he would have to buy more from Ginger soon.

After gathering his thoughts and letting Hoseok have some time to do so too, Hyungwon went out too. He knew Hoseok wouldn't have left yet and when he walked around the house and saw a figure of the guy sitting on the sidewalk, it proved his thoughts right. Quietly without saying anything he walked to Hoseok and sat down next to him. He noticed that there were two cigarette butts on the ground already which meant Hoseok was inhaling his third one already. Hyungwon wanted to snatch it away but instead he just looked away and rested his arms on his knees.

"I didn't sleep with that girl but I totally understand why you think I did," Hyungwon started calmly. Hoseok was just smoking his cigarette without saying anything. "It's true that I went to her place for sex but then I couldn't stop thinking about you so I left before anything would happen."

"How am I supposed to believe that?" Hoseok muttered. He still sounded mad. He had mostly gotten angry just because Hyungwon was mad at him.

"How am I supposed to believe you don't have anything going on with Gingerboy?" Hyungwon asked. It felt so weird to even think about Hoseok and Ginger together. "We just need to trust each other."

"Are you going to continue to sleep with other people?" Hoseok answered with another question. He was serious.

"If you would give me some ass it would be a lot easier," Hyungwon said, trying to seem like he was joking around. He turned to look at Hoseok.

Hoseok gave him a murderous glance that made Hyungwon forget about all the jokes.

"I mean no. I won't fuck any girl or boy," Hyungwon quickly said. "I only want you in my life."

Hoseok let out a snort. "Hey, imagine if I actually had a thing with Gingerboy," he said with a smile and finally looked at Hyungwon properly as well.

"I don't want to imagine that."

"It would honestly be so weird," Hoseok shook his head and dumped his last cigarette to the ground - somehow even though he was supposed to save them, he had unconsciously ended up smoking all of them.

"That's why I was so shocked," Hyungwon let out a light laugh and after that, he and Hoseok just stared at each other for a while without saying anything. "Fuck, I have fallen for you so damn bad," Hyungwon then said.

Hoseok smiled and looked down. Hyungwon leaned forward and put a hand on his chin, lifting his face back up before kissing him. Hoseok had to put his hand on the ground behind him to hold himself up.

Hyungwon kissed him very carefully at first as if he was waiting for a permission or something and Hoseok had to lift his other hand on the side of Hyungwon's face to kiss him back.

"Bitch hold the fuck up!" the yell of someone they knew interrupted them before the kiss would get deeper. They separated from each other to look at Jooheon who had been normally going along the road with his BMX and then suddenly stopped and turned around when he had realized who the gays making out on the sidewalk were.

Hoseok was in too much of a shock to see Jooheon like that. Hyungwon told Jooheon to continue his way with a simple hand movement. It took a while for Jooheon to get his eyes off of the two and when he was about to go, he couldn't find the pedals properly and almost fell like it was the first time he was using a bike.

"Guess we are not that secret anymore," Hyungwon noted.

-

An hour later they were laying on Hyungwon's bed face-to-face.

"What are your parents going to say about you not sleeping home tonight?" Hyungwon asked. It was pretty clear already that Hoseok wasn't going to go home.

"Probably nothing since they haven't already called," Hoseok answered. He hadn't even thought about going home and he had almost even forgot that he needed to go to school the following day.

"I think your phone rang a while ago though," Hyungwon said and turned his head in a weird position to see the phone on the couch.

"Whatever. I don't care."

"I'm glad you're here rather than being home."

"Me too."

"You're glad that I'm here?" Hyungwon laughed.

"No... I'm glad that I'm here with you."

"I know," he smiled and thought for a while. There were a few things he had had in his mind for a while but there had never been a right chance to say them. "Listen to me for a second."

"As if I haven't been listening to you the whole time," Hoseok rolled his eyes.

"Now do it more closely," Hyungwon's suddenly more serious tone got Hoseok to actually pay better attention to him. "Remember you can always call me no matter what and I will come to you," Hyungwon started, looking Hoseok in the eyes.

"Okay."

"And if you ever feel like you want to hurt yourself, put your wrists under cold water instead and it should help." 

"What is this suddenly?"

"Just tell me you will, please? I don't want anything to happen to you," Hyungwon held Hoseok's hands.

"Okay I will," Hoseok promised. Hyungwon leaned to press a soft kiss on his forehead.


	26. Chapter 26

Hoseok was glad Hyungwon wasn't awake in the morning when he woke up. He carefully took his things, trying to not wake Hyungwon up and left. As soon as he got out, he felt his body relax. Then he started looking for a cigarette pack from his pockets but soon remembered he had smoked all of it.

He took his bike and headed to school. It was still early in the morning and his school was't going to start in thirty minutes but he was going there anyways because he just wanted to get away from Hyungwon. While Hyungwon had been sleeping he could think himself without his thoughts being influenced by the older.

He cycled slowly because he wasn't in a rush and when he got to the hill before school, he saw a big group standing there, chatting and smoking. That was the usual smoking place of his school. The one he avoided because there were people he didn't want to meet there - this time Minhyuk and Byungchul didn't seem to be there but Jooheon was and remembering what the guy had witnessed, Hoseok didn't want to talk to him.

"Hoseok!" Jooheon yelled from the middle of the group just as Hoseok was about to quietly walk past them. Hoseok stopped on his tracks and turned to look at the other. "Come here for a sec."

Hoseok left his bike there and walked to the group, scanning the people there and wondering how to get away from the upcoming situation. There were Changkyun, Kihyun, Yoonsun, Sumin and that Minjae girl alongside with Jooheon and almost ten other people.

"So..." Jooheon started and wrapped his arm around Hoseok's shoulders as the guy arrived. "You have some explaining to do."

"What? Have I missed something?" Yoonsun questioned, looking first at Hoseok, then Jooheon and then Hoseok again.

"I'll let Hoseok be the one to tell," Jooheon smirked and Hoseok felt pressured under his gaze. He looked around and most of the people weren't paying attention to them but all his friends were.

"Not now, Joohon," Hoseok muttered and freed himself from under Jooheon's arm. "See y'all after school at the park," he flashed a small smile and walked back to his bike, continuing his way to the school.

"Well someone is moody. I thought he would be all bright and shit after-," Jooheon almost accidentally revealed Hoseok's secret.

"What is it!" Yoonsun groaned, sounding desperate - she really hated not knowing about something. "Tell me."

"No. I'll keep my mouth shut for once," Jooheon looked away to avoid Yoonsun's pleading look. "Hey! I'm a good person and don't go around spreading other people's secrets!"

"No you're not," Yoonsun gave him a serious look and Jooheon finally gave up.

"Okay listen to this," Jooheon started and led Yoonsun away from the group so the others wouldn't hear it.

-

Jooheon didn't bother Hoseok for the rest of the school day. He wanted to and was impatient to know more about what he had seen but decided to wait until they would be at the park. Everyone would be there and they could surely dig the information out of Hoseok one way or another - he had already teamed up with Yoonsun to do so.

After the school was over, Jooheon waited for Changkyun and then they hurried to the park. They saw Hoseok heading to a store first - since he didn't have cigarettes anymore he needed to buy some energy drinks to help his addiction - which meant they had time to be at the park first and act all cool when Hoseok would arrive.

It was a warm, sunny day and as he arrived with Changkyun, Jen and Lee Sang were already there. Yoonsun and Kihyun arrived soon after the two of them. Gingerboy and Hyunwoo arrived together but from the opposite directions and the redhead was with his friend Sumin.

"Okay, now everybody act normal," Jooheon whisper-yelled when he noticed that Hoseok was approaching. There was a panic-like reaction and soon they had all gathered around the bench except for Lee Sang and Gingerboy who were just skateboarding. When Hoseok came, they acted like they were in the middle of a conversation.

"Hoseok!" Yoonsun cheerfully called when the guy arrived. "Good to see you here," she made room next to her on the bench and patted it as a sign for Hoseok to sit down. She was totally not acting normal.

"Hi," Hoseok let out in a sigh. Then it was silent and he noticed that almost everyone was looking at him. Even Gingerboy headed over to them to see what was going on. Hoseok moved his lips in a 'what.'

"You and Hyungwon," Jooheon started without hesitating and Hoseok got a weird feeling from that. He just shrugged. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I saw you two making out in front of his house last night."

"What!?" Jen shouted. "I'm not surprised though."

"You all seriously didn't know this before?" Yoonsun questioned. "I thought it has been obvious for like weeks already."

"Are you for real?" Sumin yelped, trying to sound a bit amused. "You're fucking gay?"

"I didn't even know he was gay," Changkyun said, looking seriously taken aback.

"Me neither," Kihyun sounded just as surprised as Changkyun did.

"No one is going to say anything about Hoseok being gay, okay," Jooheon raised his voice, annoyed at the two guy's expressions and stares towards Hoseok.

"Or they can come talk to me and see how their face turns out," Ginger sounded just as pissed off as Jooheon was. Sumin muttered something to herself and left which made everyone glad - she wasn't really friends with anyone else of them but Ginger and had just suddenly started being around.

Instead of saying something, Hoseok was just ripping out the crust that had formed on his palm after the road rash he had gotten one time when he had fallen. He acted like he wasn't paying attention to avoid the topic.

"Hey!" Jooheon didn't leave him be even though he clearly looked like he didn't want to talk about it. "Tell us everything."

"Are you two dating now?" Yoonsun asked, leaning a bit closer to Hoseok to make the situation extra pressuring.

"I want to know how did this start," Jen sat next to Yoonsun and leaned a bit closer herself too with a suggestive smile on her face.

"Guys, no offense but I don't want to talk about it," Hoseok firmly said and left his palm alone to look at the others.

"Why?" Jooheon and Yoonsun asked in unision.

"Because I don't even know myself. I keep having mixed feelings," Hoseok muttered. Thinking about things related to Hyungwon made his head turn into a mess again - he had been avoiding thinking about his problems for the whole day until this moment.

"Why is that?" Changkyun asked. Everybody was so full of curiousity that they couldn't stop asking questions.

"I don't know. I just feel like I can't think by myself when I'm around him." At first Hoseok wasn't going to say anything but then he suddenly felt like he needed to empty his mind to someone - and there just happened to be seven people in front of him ready to listen. "Even when I should be angry at him he just manages to get through my head."

"Boy I told you he is a fuckboy," Jen let out in a loud voice. "That's exactly what they do."

"Did he do something?" Gingerboy asked and Hoseok glanced at him quickly.

"Yeah..." Hoseok muttered. He felt a bit pressured because everyone at the park was hearing what he said except for Lee Sang but he just didn't care. "Or I'm not sure but I think he slept with Dohee from our class. But he said he didn't," he looked at Jooheon while saying 'our class' and then kept staring at the ground.

"Why don't you ask Dohee then?"

"I did and she said that it's true."

"There we go. He lies and that's for sure," Yoonsun stopped staring at Hoseok and leaned back on the bench.

"How can you be that quick to judge?"

"I agree with Yoonsun. I know a fuckboy when I see one and Hyungwon has always been one in my eyes," Jen then commented.

"Pointing out that he is a liar or a fuckboy is not much of help since he can do anything and I will forgive him as soon as he says a few words," Hoseok stood up and grabbed his skateboard. "If he comes here act like you don't want to let me go," he stepped on the skateboard and started heading towards the ramps.

The others joined him in a while and it was a bit crowded at the park so Hoseok couldn't really do anything because he didn't want to run into anyone - which was pretty possible for him. He was just going around the park for a while before heading back to the bench and taking out the RedBull he had bought.

He took out his phone for a second and looked what messages he had gotten. Hyungwon had called him once and left a message asking if he was coming. He ignored it and put his phone back in his pocket, knowing that Hyungwon would come there sooner or later.

And he was right, about an hour later they could notice Hyungwon walking towards the park with fast steps. He wasn't even carrying a skateboard. Hoseok got anxious and tried to act like he didn't notice it, skateboarding around the park and hanging close to other people.

"Yo, Hoseok, Hyungwon is here," Jooheon tried to whisper but it came out a bit loud.

"Shut up, I know," Hoseok hissed with gritted teeth. His back was facing the direction Hyungwon was coming from and he was just kicking the board up and then letting it go back to the ground.

"Hi Hoseok," Hyungwon said when he finally reached Hoseok who wasn't raising his head to look at Hyungwon even when the guy was now standing in front of him. "Did you forget we were supposed to study?"

"I just wanted to be at the park for a while," Hoseok muttered, hoping that someone would come to help him get out of this situation. He wasn't that good of a liar himself and again, Hyungwon always managed to make him change his mind.

"Should we go now then?"

"Leave the kid be for a while," Jen butted in from afar and Hoseok was glad about it because he was already running out of things to say. "He can barely even get fresh air if he is always with you."

Hyungwon just glanced at her and then turned back to Hoseok. "You really need to study for that exam so let's go soon."

"I promised to teach him so you don't need to," Hyunwoo, who Hoseok hadn't even noticed to appear close to them, suddenly said. Hyungwon glanced at him too and started to feel a bit suspicious.

"Hoseok... What is this?" he asked slowly and looked around to the others who pretended like they weren't following the conversation. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you," Hoseok said bluntly and finally looked up to Hyungwon.

"Then let's go now," Hyungwon grabbed his arm and tried to pull him along but Hoseok pulled back and managed to get his arm free from Hyungwon.

"So what if I don't want to go with you?" he raised his voice and Hyungwon had never looked so confused.

"We will go somewhere and talk because I need to know what the hell is going on right now," Hyungwon tried to grab his arm to get him to come with again.

"Hey, hey, hey," Gingerboy came to them and kicked his skateboard to the other direction as he stepped off of it. He went in between Hyungwon and Hoseok and forced Hyungwon to let go of the other guy. "Ho' doesn't want to be with you right now so leave him alone."

"You," Hyungwon muttered at Ginger when seeing him had reminded him of that thing Hoseok had revealed to him. "You fucking shit should stay out of this," he attacked Gingerboy all of a sudden, losing all the coolness he usually had. Hoseok had never heard him cursing like that and he had to step out of the way to not fall when Hyungwon pushed Ginger backwards, making the much smaller guy stumble on his feet.

"You promised not to tell him," Gingerboy cried to Hoseok. He was a bit wrong though - Hoseok never promised anything and had just kept quiet when Ginger asked about it. It didn't take much longer than that for the redhead to get mad at the guy attacking him.

Hyungwon wasn't going to hurt Gingerboy, fighting wasn't really in his blood like that and it just wasn't his normal reaction to hit someone, but Ginger was the opposite. Intending to get rid of Hyungwon who was pushing him back from his shoulders, Gingerboy's fist swung towards the other's face only to get blocked by Hyungwon's hand.

They both yelled something that included Hoseok's name and the fight got even realer after Gingerboy's attack. Hoseok felt like he was going to have a breakdown and he literally couldn't stand it. He squatted down on the ground and held his head in his hands. He found it difficult to breathe properly and it felt like the world was getting pressed smaller and smaller around him even though all the voices seemed to be far away.

"Hey someone help Hoseok," Changkyun yelled, from the further ramp. The fighting had stopped and Hyungwon was about to head to Hoseok but Yoonsun brushed past him. She knelt in front of Hoseok and held his shoulders. Taking a step back, Hyungwon stumbled upon Gingerboy and they snapped at each other again.

"You two shut the fuck up now," Yoonsun yelled at them. She didn't seem to be in the right state of mind. The whole situation going on at the park was very stressful.

"Let go of him," a calm voice interrupted her. It was Lee Sang. "You're no help like that."

Yoonsun backed away and Lee Sang took his place. Everyone was quiet and just followed what the guy did because him intervening in the first place was so surprising. Sang made Hoseok count to ten while looking at his fingers. After that Hoseok seemed to relax. Lee Sang stood up and turned to Hyungwon who had finally stopped bickering with Gingerboy and now looked at Hoseok with a worried expression on his face.

"Hyungwon. Where has your sense gone? Stop causing trouble before you get Gunhee's reputation. And you can't force Hoseok to come with you," Sang said and walked over to him. Hyungwon clenched his jaw. He looked at Sang, then Hoseok, his face showing different stages of annoyed and confused. He turned around to walk away.

Hoseok, now sitting on the warm ground, felt bad for him but at the same time was glad to see him leave. He decided that he would go see Hyungwon some other day and make up for driving the guy away like that. Hopefully before that he also would have sorted out his feelings, which wasn't very likely.


	27. Chapter 27

Hyunwoo turned out to suck at teaching someone so Hoseok didn't really end up learning anything. After a stressed night of him worrying what he would do to survive that exam, he headed to school, almost even thinking about ways to skip so he wouldn't have to do that exam. He was done for and that was for sure.

"Studied a lot?" Byungchul asked when Hoseok sat in front of them in the bus - he had had to take the bus because he woke up too late and couldn't have made it in time otherwise.

"What do you think," Hoseok just said simply. Byungchul's parents were irresponsible and he was almost at Hoseok's level in school when in the other hand Minhyuk was a good student who was almost at the top of the class.

"Me neither," Byungchul said and left Hoseok alone just like that. He and Minhyuk didn't seem to have much to say that day, which felt a bit weird as if it was calm before storm.

Hoseok got even more nervous as they got closer to the school. He wished that the bus ride would have just lasted forever so he wouldn't have to do the exam. He thought about all the possible means he could use to avoid doing the exam. He even wondered if he should go beg for teacher Pyo to give him some mercy. On his way to class, someone as common as Jooheon appeared in his eyes and suddenly seemed like a saving angel. Hoseok ran to him and yelled his name.

"Jooheon, do you have a cheat sheet?" he asked, stopping in front of Jooheon. He seemed frantic and Jooheon looked at him weirdly.

"I do, why?" he answered, furrowing his brows at Hoseok.

"Please lend it to me," Hoseok pleaded, sounding just as desperate as he was.

"I thought you studied last night?"

"I did but I don't know a thing and I seriously can't fail this exam or my life will literally end," he spoke really fast and Jooheon almost had a hard time catching on to what he said.

"Then what should I use if I give my cheat sheet to you?" Jooheon asked after thinking for a while.

"You don't need to give it to me. Just let me copy it real quick."

He sighed and let out a groan as he was wondering should he give his secret weapon to someone else. "Fine, but you're not getting it for free," he then gave up.

"How much you want?" Hoseok asked. He and Jooheon started walking towards the class so he could copy the cheat sheet before the class would start.

"Fifty."

"Fifty thousand?" Hoseok yelped and stopped on his tracks. "You can't be that brutal."

"I worked on it for almost four hours," Jooheon said but then he looked at Hoseok and saw his desperate look. "Alright, twenty."

"Got it."

Ten minutes later Hoseok had hastily copied most of Jooheon's cheat sheet and the exam started.

-

"So, Hoseok," homeroom teacher Pyo started when they were sitting in the counseling room with Hoseok. He seemed frustrated like he didn't know what to do. "This was really the last straw. I tried making the principal to let you go one more time but now he is making sure I contact your parents."

Hoseok was looking down on his hands and playing with his fingers. He had gotten caught cheating. It had been one of the scariest moments of his life, having the teacher appearing in front of him and seeing his life flash before his eyes as their eyes met.

"Maybe you should call your parents first and give them a little heads up?" teacher suggested. Hoseok nodded even though he already knew he wouldn't do it. "I will try to avoid the principal until the school ends but after that, I really have to contact them."

Hoseok looked at the clock on the wall. It was eleven which meant he had about five hours left to live.

"Do you understand?" teacher Pyo asked. Hoseok nodded again. "Okay. Go back to class now."

Hoseok stood up, bowed and walked back to the classroom. When he got there, some people turned to him. Jooheon looked like he was sorry. Hoseok took his things and left - if it really was his last day alive, he wouldn't waste it in the classroom.

He went to the park. It was nice to be there alone and unlike usual, he wasn't skateboarding just halfheartedly but put his everything into it. It led to him constantly falling down because his speed was so much that he couldn't stop his body from moving when something occurred. He tried all kinds of tricks that happened to come to his mind.

There was already blood crippling down his hand all the way to his fingers but he wished that he could have just stayed there, skateboarding the rest of his life - that was how afraid he was of going home and seeing his parents.

"Why I can't stay up today," he muttered to himself after getting himself up from the ground again. He remembered the thing about one not being a good skater before falling a hundred times but instead of thinking that he was making process by constantly falling down, he felt like he really sucked more than usual that day. He had thought that being at the park would make his mood brighten up but suddenly the frustration made him feel even more depressed.

 _'It's not possible for me to really be this bad'_ was what he tried to say to himself to get back on the move and continue but because of his bad mood, nothing seemed to be going well and it only added up to his dejection.

Finally deciding that it was time to give his body a rest, he went to sit on top of a ramp where he had left his backpack. The fact that he still didn't have smokes increasing his disappointment, he took out a RedBull and opened it. He took a sip and then laid on his back, having to close his eyes to avoid the sunlight that was shining almost directly to his eyes.

He felt some tears roll down from his eyes but didn't even bother wiping them away or holding then back since he was alone at the park. He was filled with anxiety, frustration and self-hate at the same time and he felt hopeless - he really didn't know what to do.

"Hey baby boy," a voice came in his dream and caused him to wake up - he had really fallen asleep for real. He opened his eyes, not even having to squint because a hand was kept in front of the sun, shadowing his eyes. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Hyungwon. "What are you doing here at this time?"

"I could ask the same thing," Hoseok muttered and sat up on the edge of the ramp.

"I came to see you since you have been avoiding me," Hyungwon said and sat next to him, keeping his eyes on Hoseok.

"I haven't," Hoseok quickly said and looked at Hyungwon but got flustered because of the other guy's smile and looked away almost as fast.

"Yes you have. You all teamed up yesterday to drive me away," Hyungwon didn't sound mad but Hoseok still had a feeling that he was. "Do you have a reason to avoid me?"

"Uhm..." Hoseok indeed had a reason but he didn't know how to express it. Sitting beside him, Hyungwon was also deceiving him again and he wasn't sure how long he could keep his mind. "I just wanted space."

"Why that?" Hyungwon kept bombing him with questions. Hoseok had a feeling that he knew something but was just trying to get Hoseok to say it.

"I feel like we're moving too fast," Hoseok came up with a lie which wasn't even that much of a lie since it was true that they were moving a bit fast.

"Right," Hyungwon nodded with a smile - he knew. "So this has nothing to do with that girl you think I slept with?"

"I don't think you slept with her," Hoseok turned to look at Hyungwon. Even though previously Hyungwon had made him down with a few words and a kiss, Hoseok was now getting his anger levels up again when he thought about the subject. "I know you slept with her."

"Oh my god," Hyungwon breathed and turned his head away from Hoseok. "I can't believe this."

"And I can't believe that you tried to lie to me," Hoseok snapped back, looking away from Hyungwon as well.

Hyungwon sighed. He seemed like he didn't know what to say. "I never lied to you, Hoseok," he said calmly. "Everything I have said has been the truth."

"I don't trust you anymore," Hoseok pouted like a little kid and crossed his arms. He could already find himself starting to soften at Hyungwon's words.

"Hoseok," Hyungwon grabbed his shoulders and made him to turn to him. "I don't know what the others have said to you but I really want you to trust me."

Hoseok wanted to avoid Hyungwon's calm and gentle eyes that made him feel like he was going to melt any second.

"Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying right now. I... wouldn't lie to you," Hyungwon said the last sentence slowly, staring into Hoseok's eyes.

Hoseok didn't know what to believe anymore but Hyungwon was yet again getting into his head and making him believe every word that came from the other guy's mouth. Suddenly he was sure that Dohee had been the one to lie. "Fine," he muttered and freed himself from Hyungwon. "I'm sorry."

Hyungwon put a hand behind his head and leaned to press a kiss on his temple. Hoseok bit his lips together. After pulling away, Hyungwon took Hoseok's hand, the one that was bleeding a bit. He caressed it softly, looking down.

"You should be more careful," he said and Hoseok tried to pull the hand away because Hyungwon's pity was making him feel uncomfortable. Careful wasn't in his vocabulary. He wanted to fall rather than just stumbling on his feet - he and pain had a relationship like that.

"I am..."

"You didn't do well in the exam?" Hyungwon asked to change the subject, talking in a tone lower to normal. Hoseok nodded. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," Hoseok said quietly. Keeping his head down so Hyungwon wouldn't see he was tearing up, he quickly wiped away a tear from his other eye, trying to make it look like he was just itching or something. "I'm too scared to go home."

"I will help you out and besides, they are your parents. They wouldn't do anything bad to you," Hyungwon tried to encourage him.

"I have seen a lot of kids whose parents don't treat them right," Hoseok said and raised his head a bit. Even from the park he could name a couple of people who got mistreated by their parents in one way or another.

"Your mom seemed nice. She will understand."

Hoseok shook his head. Hyungwon was the one who didn't understand. His mother was only nice to him and let him do basically whatever he wanted to because she thought he was still studying well. Hoseok was thought as the hope of the family - his mother working at a store and dad being a construction worker, they had high hopes for him succeeding well.

"Well, whatever happens, I will be here for you. If they kick you out, just come live with me."

Hoseok glanced at Hyungwon and snorted. Getting a small smile on his lips, he looked away again. "Are you implying that you want to live with me?"

"I was just being a nice friend and offering you a possible place to sleep but if that's how you want to put it then yes," Hyungwon laughed.

Hoseok didn't say anything and just looked at Hyungwon for a sort while. He had been devastated before Hyungwon appeared but yet again, the guy had managed to pick out just the right words to say to make him feel better. Hoseok wasn't even thinking about the thing he had previously been mad to Hyungwon about. If Yoonsun and Jen would have seen him at that moment, they would have probably hit him for being dumb since they were all about Hyungwon being a fuckboy.

Hyungwon pulled him down the ramp and made him to get on the skateboard. Hoseok was hesitant at first because of how pitiful his skating was that day but with Hyungwon's continuous encouragement, everything was soon like normal. Hoseok thought it would have been embarrassing to fall in front of Hyungwon so he tried his best to not to.

At one point Hyungwon came in Hoseok's way and made him to stop. Hoseok mouthed a 'what' but Hyungwon didn't say anything and just came in front of Hoseok, his feet on both sides of the skateboard. Standing on top of the skateboard, Hoseok was even taller than Hyungwon.

Hyungwon put his arms around Hoseok and looked into his eyes. Hoseok looked confused as of why Hyungwon was suddenly doing that.

"What?" Hyungwon asked with a smile. "Are you afraid someone is gonna see us?"

"Not really," Hoseok said. For some reason he was a bit tense. "I might have already told all my friends."

"You did?" Hyungwon shouted, his smile growing wider. His excited reaction made Hoseok happy. "That means I don't have to hold myself back anymore."

He leaned closer and lifted his face up to kiss Hoseok but Hoseok pushed him away before the kiss only even started. "Please continue to control yourself."

Hyungwon acted like he was sad. Hoseok brought his hand up to touch the bruise on Hyungwon's cheekbone.

"Bruises don't look so tough on you as they do on Gingerboy," he said, running his fingers along the cheekbone. He was low key trying to make Hyungwon jealous with that sentence. "You just look like you have accidentally bumped into something."

"Ouch," Hyungwon let out and Hoseok wasn't sure if it was his pride getting hurt or if the bruise was sore.

"Don't fight with him. He doesn't deserve it," Hoseok said, increasing Hyungwon's jealousy level.

"If you talk about him like that I will want to fight him even more, baby."

"Didn't I tell you to not call me-," Hoseok leaned back a little bit too much and right away he felt the skateboard escaping from under him. Hyungwon managed to keep him up and a love story-like moment happened when they looked each other in the eyes and time slowed down.

"Aren't you two lovebirds so cute," Kihyun's voice came to distract their beautiful moment. Hoseok quickly pushed Hyungwon away and stood up straight. "They should write a fanfiction about you."

"Hi Kihyun," Hoseok muttered and walked past Hyungwon to go get his skateboard that had rolled away from them. He felt himself blushing a little bit.

"Don't mind me, just continue what you were doing."


	28. Chapter 28

No one else really came to the park that day. Yoonsun came to hang out with Kihyun for a while but later they left to his place to eat. She kept giving weird looks to Hyungwon and questioning ones to Hoseok. Hoseok knew she was disappointed to see him back with Hyungwon that quickly - if she had been Hoseok she would have ignored the guy for at least a week more but Hoseok didn't have that kind of strength.

At one point Hoseok's phone rang. He got anxious straight away because he knew it couldn't be anyone else but his parents and he was right. The 'mom' that flashed on the screen made his heart beat faster.

"I think I need to go home," Hoseok muttered and put his phone on silent. He didn't want to answer the call because if his mom would yell at him through the phone, he would probably have a breakdown and he didn't want that to happen on public with Hyungwon.

"Alright, I can take you," Hyungwon said casually. He was very understanding of Hoseok's situation even though after meeting the guy's mother once he couldn't believe that the woman could do her kid any harm.

"I don't want you to get in trouble for driving without license," Hoseok said, walking to the ramp to take his backpack and the almost finished energy drink.

"Hey," Hyungwon laughed. "Do you really think I drive around without license?"

"So... You have a license?"

"Of course I do," Hyungwon put his arm around the shoulders of Hoseok who felt completely stupid now. "Let's go."

Hoseok drowned what was left of his RedBull, placed the can on the ground and stepped on it to trash it. He threw it to a trash can while they walked away from the park.

Even though he knew he needed to go home quickly so his parents wouldn't be mad about that too, he kept walking slowly since every step led him closer to home. Hyungwon noticed how despondent the guy seemed. He looked down to see Hoseok's hand that was just hanging next to his body as he walked. He slowly extended his fingers to hold Hoseok's hand and when Hoseok felt their fingers interlocking, he turned his head up to look at Hyungwon.

"Cheer up a little," Hyungwon smiled and held Hoseok's hand tighter. "It's gonna be okay, alright."

"Mm..." Hoseok muttered, looking at the pavement they were walking on. He didn't want Hyungwon to worry about him but at the same time it felt nice that someone was there for him like that.

"What should I do to make you feel better?" Hyungwon asked, trying to sound cheerful.

"Uhm... I'm hungry."

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting in the car in front of a chicken shop with a bucket of chicken in between them. Hoseok was eating fast as if he had been starving for a while -  it actually had been a while since he had eaten. Hyungwon was a bit hungry himself too but acted like he was not so Hoseok would eat a lot.

"When you get home, I will wait on front of the house," Hyungwon said, taking small bites of a chicken leg.

"Why," Hoseok asked, mostly paying attention to the food so his understanding level wasn't at its highest.

"To know you made it safely. Call me when you get to your room."

"Okay," Hoseok said, clutching up the last pieces of the chicken. He seemed much more relaxed now. Maybe it was because of the food. Hyungwon pulled back to the driveway and they continued their way to Hoseok's house.

Hoseok's phone rang again on the way but he still didn't answer although it got his nervousness up even more. He also saw that he had almost two hundred new messages in the group chat and he immediately knew why - Yoonsun had been causing drama because of the fact that Hoseok was already happy together with Hyungwon after the whole thing on the day before.

"We're here," Hyungwon said when they pulled in front of Hoseok's house. Hoseok just sat still and stared at the house. Hyungwon grabbed him by his collar and pulled him closer to kiss him. "Remember to call me," he muttered into the kiss.

Hoseok pulled away from him and nodded. He already had his hand on the door handle when Hyungwon leaned over to his seat and kissed him again. After a while Hoseok pushed him away again.

"You're worried about your parents seeing us, aren't you?" Hyungwon asked and glanced over to the house to verify that there was no open windows facing them. "They can't."

Hoseok looked at the house too, took a deep breath and stepped outside, slipping away from Hyungwon's fingers that were holding his arm. He walked in the house and as the door closer behind him, there was nothing after.

Hyungwon leaned back on his seat. Hoseok's nervousness had caught to him and now he couldn't stop to worry about what would happen to Hoseok. He kept staring at his phone, waiting for the call and after ten minutes, it finally came.

"You can go now," was the first thing Hoseok said after Hyungwon picked up.

"You sure?" Hyungwon questioned. He was a bit doubtful but glad at the same time.

"Yeah, I just got to my room. Nothing happened. They were just disappointed," Hoseok's voice was weird but Hyungwon couldn't put his finger on why. It was kind of as if he was holding his breath.

"Why do you sound like that?"

"Like what? Just go before your parents notice you took one of their cars," Hoseok hastily ended the call and Hyungwon stared at his screen for a while. He wasn't sure of what to do now since Hoseok clearly told him to leave because everything was fine but something told him it wasn't the truth.

A short mental battle later, Hyungwon left home. He felt a bit uneasy and couldn't stop thinking about Hoseok. He wasn't sure if what he was feeling was separation anxiety but all he wanted was to be with Hoseok.

Hoseok looked from his window to the street and saw Hyungwon driving away. Then he closed the curtains and threw himself to the bed. His hands were shaking and his head, which had bumped against the corner of a shelf as his mother had pushed him while yelling at him, hurt like crazy. The feelings he had felt alone at the park before he had fallen asleep and Hyungwon had appeared, came back now. All he could think about was how badly everything was turning out for him.

He wished he would have had the courage to run away from the house and leave with Hyungwon so he wouldn't have to be alone but at the same time, he was glad Hyungwon had left.

Hoseok's father was banging on his door for him to come out and talk with his parents but he buried his head in the pillow and tried to ignore the sounds, just like Hyungwon had done that one time his parents had been fighting. The short while Hoseok had had to listen to his parents yelling at him was already been too much and now he was scared to go out from his room.

After a while he gathered some courage and walked out of his room. His mother was sitting in the living room and his father stood in the other side of the room, leaning against a wall. Hoseok carefully sat on a stool.

"Where has your senses gone? Do you need a beating?" his father started in a strict voice. Hoseok gulped and vigorously shook his head. "I don't work hard every day for you to be slacking off like this."

"Hoseok, do you need a private teacher?" his mother asked in a much softer tone. Hoseok knew it was just an empty suggestion because they would never have money for a private teacher, much less any tutor lessons.

"Me and your mother have given everything to you and you don't even bother to study! And on top of all that you lie to us about your terrible grades!" his father started to raise his voice again and stepped a bit away from the wall. Hoseok's head sunk even lower.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. That was all he could say but it wasn't enough for his parents.

"You're sorry? How do you think you're going to fix this?" his father yelled louder and came even closer. Hoseok wasn't moving. He couldn't escape the situation nor could he defend himself in any way.

"Is this because you're always out?" his mother asked suddenly.

"No!" Hoseok shouted and stood up, the stool falling down behind him. "This has nothing to do with that!"

"Then why are your grades so bad?" she lifted her voice up in a little bit. Hoseok looked both of his parents and clenched his jaw. He felt like he was about to let out so much bottled up anger.

"Because I'm so fucking depressed I don't have a single bit of motivation for studying!" Hoseok yelled and both of his parents faces went blank. Hoseok started saying so much things he never wanted his parents to hear. "Even if I try to study, nothing comes out and I just want to kill myself even more."

They were speechless. Both parents were just staring at him with wide eyes, surprised to see their son talking like that.

"Do you remember when I had OD'd on sleeping pills and you thought I had trouble falling asleep and that the reason I had locked myself in my room for weeks was to study in peace since I had exams coming up? The doctors said it was a suicide attempt but you said I was just stressing out because of the exams," Hoseok knew he was going to regret everything he would say in that situation but he couldn't stop himself from letting everything out. "They were right. I did try to kill myself and the fact that I knew how mad you two would be to find out I hadn't studied one bit during those weeks was one of the reasons I did it. You are the reason!"

Neither of the parents was still saying a word and Hoseok was running out of things to say.

"And don't you dare say I should stop being out so much because skateboarding and my new friends are actually the one thing that makes me feel less depressive and actually give me some reasons to live," Hoseok turned around before his parents had a chance to open their mouths and walked to his room, closing the door behind him with a bang.

He fell to sit on the ground, his back against the wall and tears started to stream out of his eyes. Realization of what he had just done started to slowly come to him. He felt like he had just ruined every possibility of him being a happy family with his parents - he didn't even want to face them anymore.

-

When he had calmed down, he was laying on his bed, going through his phone. He checked the messages he had gotten but didn't bother replying to the groupchat about him and Hyungwon because that subject had already passed by and now they were talking about how Hyunwoo traveled two hours back and forth to get some new parts to his scooter.

Hoseok somehow found his way to his chat with Hyungwon which was just the older guys messages to him since Hoseok had never messaged him before. That was going to change now as Hoseok sent a simple _'wassup'_ to Hyungwon. The reply came quicker than he had expected.

 _'want to facetime?'_ was what Hyungwon had written. Hoseok almost said yes straight away but then remembered how bloated his face was and how red and puffy his eyes were. He asked if they could just have a normal call. Soon after his phone was already ringing.

"Hi," he answered after clearing his throat so he wouldn't sound like he had cried.

"How are you?" Hyungwon asked. Hoseok suddenly coming to talk to him was a bit weird and he sensed that something was going on but he didn't want to dig it out forcibly.

"I'm good," Hoseok simply said. That was the best he could answer to that question. He didn't know how he was feeling himself because his mind was a mess and he was actually hoping that talking to Hyungwon would get his mid off of things for a second. "Are you home already?"

"I just got here a while ago."

"What are you doing?" he continued asking questions, hoping that the conversation would go somewhere because it would get awkward real quick otherwise.

"I'm laying on my bed."

"What a coincidence."

"Are you laying on your bed too?"

"Yeah," Hoseok laughed. He already felt more relaxed than before the call with Hyungwon had started.

"It would be better if you were in my bed too," Hyungwon said and Hoseok knew what look he had on his face without even seeing it.

"Ew," Hoseok let out and he couldn't stop smiling at what Hyungwon had said.

"Why do you always act like it's disgusting whenever I say or do something romantic?" Hyungwon asked, sounding a bit amused.

"Because it is."

"I know how much you like it, though."

Hoseok sighed. That was an argument he couldn't win. It was true that Hyungwon's oh so romantic actions made him feel some little butterflies but at the same time some part of him that wanted to be tough and hate every action like that.

"What did your parents say to you?" Hyungwon finally got to ask the question to which he had longer answer for a while already.

"Uhm..." Hoseok took a while to decide what he would say. He didn't want Hyungwon to know how badly his parents had bashed him as soon as he had arrived home. He didn't want to know how Hyungwon would react to hear that Hoseok had been called a 'poor excuse of a son' and other things like that.

"Did they hit you?" Hyungwon asked another question before Hoseok couldn't even answer the first one.

"They didn't," Hoseok smoothly said and it was only half of the lie. His mother pushing him and him hitting his head on that shelf was more of an indirect hit. "They just said that I need to study hard for the midterms to make up for everything and to not stay out so much."

"Really? That's a relief," Hyungwon was not buying it completely but he couldn't force Hoseok to tell the truth.

"I was scared for nothing," Hoseok tried his best to sound nonchalant.

"I'm glad that you're okay," Hyungwon seemed to let out a sigh. Hoseok started to get emotional although he had stopped crying a while ago already.

It got quiet and neither of them talked. Hoseok felt some lone tears starting to fall again. "Hyungwon," he started after a while and had to cover his mouth with his hand to not let out any crying sounds.

"What is it?" Hyungwon asked fast. He was on the edge again after hearing Hoseok's voice break.

"Nothing. Goodnight," Hoseok was about to end the call already.

"No, wait," Hyungwon raised his voice to stop Hoseok from hanging up. "Let me in from your window."

"What?" Hoseok asked, forgetting about holding his breath and accidentally letting out a sob.

"I knew you weren't okay so I didn't leave home when you told me to. Now let me in."

"Just go home," Hoseok glanced to the window with closed curtains. He wasn't sure if Hyungwon was really there or not.

"I'm not joking around. Open the window," Hyungwon sounded demanding and even though Hoseok didn't want Hyungwon to see him in that shape, he got up and walked to the window to open it.

Hyungwon crawled in from the window and as his feet landed on the ground, he had already wrapped his arms around Hoseok, the younger guy's head and hands against his chest. Hoseok stopped holding his cries in because he just couldn't do it anymore.

"Shh... It's okay," Hyungwon hissed and slowly soother the back of Hoseok's head.

"I told them everything," Hoseok confessed. He wasn't supposed to tell anything to Hyungwon but now that the guy was in front of him like that, everything just started coming out from his mouth. "I told them how I'm too depressed to study and how they were part of the reason I tried-," Hoseok fortunately managed to stop himself before revealing too much. He remembered that there were things even Hyungwon didn't know.

Hyungwon's brows furrowed. "It's okay," he said again and continued what he was doing while Hoseok continued to cry. They stayed like that until both of their legs started to go to sleep.


	29. Chapter 29

Hoseok couldn't remember when exactly he had fallen asleep and how but when he woke up in the morning, he was in his own bed in the arms of Hyungwon. He felt really hot which was probably because of Hyungwon's warm body right next to him and on top of all that, he had fallen asleep with clothes on. He reached for his phone to turn off the alarm. Once again, he had slept so well that he felt tired from sleeping so much.

"Morning," Hyungwon muttered half-asleep when he noticed Hoseok moving beside him.

Hoseok got off the bed and walked to the bathroom. He turned the shower to the coldest because he was feeling so hot and stepped under the water. After he was starting to shiver, he turned the shower to hot and started washing himself. While rinsing his body, his brain woke up properly and the previous day's events came to his mind. He felt somewhat like a new person; he was much more motivated about going to school and he even tried to think about what books he would need.

When he walked back to the room, he had covered his body with two towels. One was hanging from his waist and the another one around his shoulders to cover his upper body. Hyungwon had fallen asleep again so it wouldn't have mattered even if Hoseok had walked there naked. He put clothes on and dried his hair with one of the towels.

"Yo, wake up," Hoseok said but Hyungwon didn't move. He got on the bed on his knees next to Hyungwon. "Wake up," he then whispered with a soft voice, leaning closer to the sleeping guy.

"I'm awake," Hyungwon muttered and covered his head with a blanket.

"Get up. I need to leave to school and you can't stay here," Hoseok got off the bed and continued drying his hair.

"I can take you to school," Hyungwon slowly got his body up and rubbed his eyes. "How are you so cheerful early in the morning."

"I slept so well," Hoseok said and looked at Hyungwon over his shoulder with a small smile. He threw the towel on the ground and started checking if there was everything he needed in his backpack too.

"Ah, so cute too," Hyungwon got himself up from the bed and took his hoodie from the ground to put it on.

Hoseok stopped himself from smiling after hearing that. "How are you so cheesy early in the morning," he shook his head and walked to his door. "Let's go. Hold my hand."

"W-what?" Hyungwon let out but Hoseok had already grabbed his hand and opened the door. He walked Hyungwon across the house without even glancing at his parents in the kitchen.

"What the-," quiet, confused expressions were heard from both of the parents mouths but Hoseok didn't pay any attention. He just put his shoes on and then continued dragging Hyungwon outside.

"Is this what we have come to? First it was me trying to annoy my parents and now you're doing the same?" Hyungwon said when he got outside. The curtains of the window behind them opened slightly as the parents stalked them.

"I learned this from you," Hoseok grinned and gave a quick peck on Hyungwon's cheek.

"Woah," Hyungwon let out and was frozen in place for a while before noticing that Hoseok was already walking towards the Audi that Hyungwon had shamelessly parked next to the house. "What have you done to Hoseok," he muttered to himself and followed Hoseok to the car. He felt that Hoseok's personality had changed overnight.

Hyungwon stopped the car in front or Hoseok's school. There were already many people going in from the gates but not many paid attention to them even though it was a fancy car.

"Wait," he said and grabbed Hoseok's hand as the guy was about to get off. He looked around to see if anyone was looking at them and leaned closer a bit.

Instead of pulling Hoseok closer to kiss him, he lifted up the hand he was holding and gave a quick peck on the back of Hoseok's hand.

"See you later," he smiled and let go of the hand. Hoseok got off and walked in. Hyungwon drove away after he couldn't see Hoseok anymore.

After the first class was over, Jooheon walked over to Hoseok who instead of sleeping was now wide awake and writing something down on his notebook. Jooheon sat on top of the desk so Hoseok couldn't write anymore and had to look up to the other guy to see what he had to say.

"You stayed awake the whole class. Has something happened? Did you and Hyungwon-," Jooheon made weird hand motions and banged his fists together. It took Hoseok a while to get what his innuendo meant.

"No! What the fuck..." Hoseok yelped and pushed Jooheon off his desk so he could continue writing.

"You sure? Seems like something happened?" Jooheon leaned down to Hoseok's level and rested his elbows against the desk.

"Yeah, something did," Hoseok sighed. Jooheon's eyebrows rose up as he was expecting to hear something juicy. "I got caught cheating and almost kicked out of the house by my parents."

"Oh shit, man. I forgot," Jooheon covered is mouth - how did he even forget the cheating thing when it had caused a big fuss in the whole class. "Was it scary?"

"No," Hoseok shook his head and shrugged.

"Did you get any penalty?"

"Twelve hours," he nodded.

"That's not a lot," Jooheon said and patted Hoseok's shoulders. Twelve hours didn't sound like a lot but Hoseok would have had so much better things to do than to clean the school for three hours per day.

Hoseok glanced at him and continued writing. Jooheon walked back to his seat.

-

After school was over and Hoseok had managed to stay awake during the whole day - literature class was the only one where his eyes just kept closing all the time - he headed to the park. His 'community service' at school would only start on the next day.

Arriving to the park, there was only Lee Sang skating around the park and Gingerboy sleeping on the bench. The latter's head was hanging behind and his mouth was open. Hoseok found it weird that he was sleeping there in the middle of the lay.

"Close your mouth before something flies in," Hoseok said and pushed Gingerboy's chin with his fingers to close it. The red haired guy snapped awake.

"Oh, Ho'," Gingerboy muttered and sat up straight. He looked dumbstruck as if he hadn't even realized he had been sleeping.

"How come you're sleeping here at this time?" Hoseok asked and sat next to the younger.

"It's my medication... It makes me really sleepy," Gingerboy said and took his snapback off to run a hand through his hair.

"You're taking your meds?" Hoseok raised his voice a bit. He was pleasantly surprised. Before Ginger managed to put the cap on, Hoseok had him in a headlock and was rubbing his knuckles against the other's head, messing up the red hair. "That's a good boy!"

"Ow, ow..." Gingerboy complained as it hurt. Hoseok let him go. The redhead smiled and put his snapback back on. He was glad that he was in such good terms with Hoseok, even if it was awkward at some points.

Hoseok took his board and started skating. After getting rid of his drowsiness, Ginger joined him. Jooheon and Changkyun arrived to the park soon after and Hyunwoo a bit later than them.

Hyungwon came too after an hour had passed and even though it would be a bit uncomfortable since everybody basically knew about their relationship, Hoseok was still glad to see him.

"How was school?" he asked, skateboarding beside Hoseok.

"Boring as hell," Hoseok answered, wondering what other answer could Hyungwon have expected.

"Same."

"You were in school?" Hoseok changed the direction and Jooheon almost ran into him. Hyungwon caught him up quickly.

"For a few hours but then I got too bored and went to hang out in Spotlight," Hyungwon said and the answer didn't surprise Hoseok at all. He just shook his head and kept going.

"You're not going to believe this but he didn't sleep at all today in class," Jooheon yelled and turned to follow them. Hoseok felt like the BMX dude was going to say something stupid again.

"Really? That's great," Hyungwon looked at Hoseok and without even concentrating on skateboarding, guided his board a bit to the side to avoid a rail.

"I asked if it's because you two did something last night but he just got mad," Jooheon continued and Hoseok could feel his cheeks starting to get red. He wished Hyungwon wouldn't have heard that.

"What something do you mean?" Hyungwon asked like he hadn't understood. There weren't many things this 'something' could mean so it should have been obvious.

"Like bang bang," Jooheon clarified and would have done that same fist bump motion if he wasn't riding the bike.

"Oh... You dirty minded bastard," Hyungwon laughed and Jooheon showed him a smile before increasing his speed and going past the two others.

Hoseok didn't say anything and avoided looking at Hyungwon to pretend that the short conversation with Jooheon hadn't affected him in any way when in reality he got really awkward thinking about sex - with Hyungwon especially. The older guy in the other hand thought it was just funny that Jooheon acted like that.

Hoseok tried to do a trick but since his mind was elsewhere, he failed to keep his balance and stumbled to the ground. Hyungwon immediately stopped and got off his skateboard to help him.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Hyungwon asked and pulled Hoseok close to him by his arm. "It's getting a bit boring here," he whispered softly and put his hands on Hoseok's waist. Hoseok dubiously looked around to see if anyone was staring at them. Even though people already knew about his and Hyungwon's relationship, it was still uncomfortable to show it around them.

"No..." Hoseok muttered and looked down to avoid meeting Hyungwon's eyes since they would have probably made him change his mind. "Or let's just stay here for a while more."

"Fine," Hyungwon let go of him and stepped back on his skateboard.

Hoseok continued doing his thing too and noticed that Jooheon was showing him a thumbs up and smiling widely. Hoseok gave him a weird look and he stopped.

"Germany alert!" Gingerboy whisper-yelled from on top of a ramp and Hoseok immediately glanced to the other direction to see Minhyuk walking to the park. He was alone, no Byungchul with him this time.

"'Sup," Hoseok greeted him as he arrived. He kicked up his skateboard and grabbed it to walk to Minhyuk.

"Still here, huh?" Minhyuk said and sat down on the bench. Hoseok just nodded and then sat next to him. "Your mom contacted me and asked if I hang out with you because apparently she only found out now how badly your grades suck."

"What did you say," Hoseok asked. He noticed that Gingerboy was sending deadly glares to Minhyuk's direction but seemed to be controlling himself from running to the guy and beating his ass - everybody knew that was what went on inside his mind. Hyungwon in the other hand was acting like he minded his own business while eavesdropping the conversation.

"I said she should ask the weirdos you hang out with," Minhyuk answered casually. Hoseok didn't say anything. "Anyways Byungchul and I are going to this event tomorrow in the town and I'm asking you to come with us. There is some skateboarding shit too."

"Alright, I'll come," Hoseok said, not because of the skateboarding but because Minhyuk asked him so nicely.

"Cool, man. I wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyways," Minhyuk stood up to leave - the skate park wasn't really a place where he wanted to hang out for more than five minutes.

"You fucker are pretty daring to show up here like this," Gingerboy, who was now casually walking towards them, said. Minhyuk turned to look at him with a smile on his face.

"What does this crackhead want from me?" Minhyuk laughed. He looked like he was not afraid of Ginger at all. The two of them were like arch-enemies these days.

"Crackhead? You even know what that means?" Ginger questioned, getting close to Minhyuk already. He seemed like he was about to lose his cool soon.

"It just seems to fit you well," Minhyuk shrugged, annoying the ginger on purpose.

Gingerboy suddenly moved fast forward after hearing that but Minhyuk was faster and swung his fist towards Ginger's face. Gingerboy stumbled backwards and before he could attack the guy, Hoseok had already grabbed him to prevent him from continuing to fight Minhyuk.

"Your friends are seriously just as crazy as you are, Hoseok," Minhyuk spat before turning around and leaving. Gingerboy tried to fight his way out of Hoseok's hold but Hoseok refused to let him go before he had calmed down.

"The fuck is wrong with you," Ginger muttered to Hoseok when the guy finally let him go. He took a cigarette from his pocket and walked to the other side of the park where Hyunwoo was while lighting it up.

Hoseok sat back on the bench and sighed heavily. That didn't really escalate in a good direction. He was a bit mad at himself for making Ginger angry at him like that. Hyungwon came next to him.

"Why are you Minhyuk's friend even though he doesn't treat you well?" Hyungwon asked. Hoseok looked at him quickly before figuring out what to answer.

"He wants to be friends with me," he simply said.

"But you could easily just say him that you don't want to hang out with him."

"You don't understand, Hyungwon," Hoseok sounded stern. "I just have to stay as friends with him."

Hoseok stood up and walked away. Hyungwon wondered why had he gotten so mad over such a simple topic. Hyungwon continued to sit on the bench for a while, watching as Hoseok kept on skateboarding. Then he took his phone out and dialed a number while walking away from the park.

-

"Why the fuck would you want to see me?" Minhyuk asked as he and Hyungwon met up in front of Spotlight.

"Come with me," Hyungwon simply said and led Minhyuk inside the skateboarding place, all the way to the backroom. Minhyuk just followed him without questioning anything - that showed how interested he was about what Hyungwon wanted to say.

They sat on a couch in the small backroom. Minhyuk looked around.

"Why does Hoseok want to stay as friends with you?" Hyungwon asked, going straight to the point with a harsh tone to begin with.

"Why don't you ask that from Hoseok?" Minhyuk asked, trying to reply with the same manner but he didn't manage to sound even nearly as tough as Hoseok.

"Isn't it obvious he won't tell me. Are you blackmailing him or something?" Hyungwon looked straight at Minhyuk.

"Blackmailing? Do you think I want to hang out with him that desperately?" Minhyuk snorted. "I just happen to have something he would never want anyone to see. He thinks that if he is not friends with me, I will show it to everyone. He is wrong though," Minhyuk let everything out almost at once. Seemed like it wasn't that big of a secret.

"What is that thing?"

"What is your relationship with Hoseok?" Minhyuk answered with another question.

"What?" Hyungwon clearly understood the question but he didn't know how it was relevant.

"Never mind, I know you two are dating or something. Nothing stays secret in this small town," Minhyuk looked away, seeming a bit amused about what he knew.

"So what?"

"As his boyfriend or something, this is something you should definitely know. But I know Hoseok would never tell you," Minhyuk kept smiling. Everything he said added up to Hyungwon's interest and that was probably his goal.

"What is it?" Hyungwon asked again, sounding even more demanding. He wasn't even thinking about how Hoseok would feel anymore, he just needed to know what was Minhyuk hiding.

"Well if you really want to know then..." Minhyuk took out his phone and started to scroll through it. He acted like he was only revealing this because Hyungwon wanted so badly but in reality he really wanted to show it to Hyungwon as well.

Hyungwon was handed Minhyuk's phone that had some video open in it. Hyungwon looked at Minhyuk quickly before pressing play and starting to watch the video.

The video was a blurry and dim. The two guys behind the camera seemed anguished about what they were witnessing. They were whispering to each other.

"Oh shit, what should we do," one voice said. It wasn't Minhyuk. The camera was shaking a bit.

"Stop filming," Minhyuk's voice then said and the camera moved a bit as he tried to pull the filming guy's arm.

"Shh..."

The camera finally found its target and the filming guy was tapping the screen furiously to get it to focus, silently cursing to himself while doing so. Two figures came to the screen and Hyungwon brought the phone closer to his face to see better.

Hoseok, looking a bit younger than now, was sobbing and trying to push away the older guy who was sucking his neck and groping the area between his legs.

There was a loud bang caused by Minhyuk kicking the wall on purpose to draw attention to stop what was happening. The man separated from Hoseok and pushed him away, causing him to hit against the wall and drop to sit on the bench of the changing room. The man turned to the camera and the video ended while the two guys ran.


	30. Chapter 30

The video ended and Hyungwon was brought back to reality when he saw his own reflection from the black screen. He turned to Hyungwon with an angry expression on his face. Minhyuk slowly took the phone from his hands.

"Why the fuck are you showing me this?" he raised his voice and stood up, making slightly frightened looking Minhyuk to stand up too.

"I-I-I just thought I should let you know since I know Hoseok would never tell you," Minhyuk tried to explain while backing away from Hyungwon, a hand in front of him to protect himself from the possible upcoming attack.

"If Hoseok don't want to talk about this then it's not your business to share it," Hyungwon stepped closer until Minhyuk was pressed against a wall. The younger guy gulped, regretting his decision of revealing Hoseok's secrets to Hyungwon.

"I'm sorry, you wanted to know so I told you," Minhyuk tried to calm down but it was clear how afraid he was of Hyungwon. Hyungwon looked a way and sighed heavily. He tried to look past his anger towards Minhyuk and focus on some of the thousand questions he had.

"Who the fuck was that man?" he asked next.

"Our previous dance teacher. He is teaching in France these days so don't bother looking for him," Minhyuk explained and Hyungwon suddenly thought about if he could book a flight to Europe to deal with some business. He stepped away from Minhyuk and let the guy breath again. He scratched the back of his head and tried to think.

"Give me your phone," he said in a demanding tone and extended his arm. He didn't have to ask twice, muttering something to himself, Minhyuk gave him the phone again. Hyungwon did something and then gave the phone back.

"Did you delete it?" Minhyuk asked. He seemed a bit annoyed to have the video deleted but at the same time it didn't surprise him. Hyungwon just nodded. "Look, dude," Minhyuk started after a while.

"Don't call me dude."

"You better treat Hoseok well. I don't want him trying to kill himself again," he sounded more serious this time. Hyungwon's eyes widened. "Oh, shit... You didn't know about that either, did you?"

"What?" Hyungwon let out a stutter.

"I have said too much already," Minhyuk took his stuff and prepared to leave. "Just remember that he is very sensitive. I know what you are like so don't try any nasty tricks on him."

He turned around and left. Hyungwon just looked at him go, not knowing what to feel. It seemed like despite being such an asshole, deep down Minhyuk actually cared about his friend. Hyungwon threw himself back to the couch. He wanted to comfort Hoseok about this thing but at the same time he knew he shouldn't bring it up. If it was something Hoseok didn't want to talk about, then it was best for them to never talk about it.

Hyungwon took out his phone to see the clock and decided to call Hoseok to make sure the guy would wait for him. Hoseok took a while to answer which was probably because he was in the middle of skateboarding.

"Are you still at the park?" Hyungwon asked after hearing Hoseok's voice.

"Yeah," Hoseok said shortly.

"Will you wait for me? I want to give you a hug."

"Okay?" he sounded a bit dubious about why Hyungwon was suddenly acting like that.

"Alright. I'll see you in a while," Hyungwon ended the call as he saw his big brother entering the room. Yongguk closed the door behind him and leaned on it. Hyungwon put his phone away.

"What are you doing here?" Yongguk asked. Hyungwon took his skateboard that was leaning on the couch. "If you need money then I'm not going to give you any."

"I just came here to settle something out," Hyungwon answered and stood up. He had money so he didn't need to ask anyone for it but for some reason his brother thought that every time someone was being nice to him was because they needed something.

Yongguk just nodded slowly and looked around in the backroom. "Mom left home," he then said with a more quiet voice.

"Okay, so what," Hyungwon replied, trying his best to sound like he didn't care but he did.

"I just thought I should let you know so you won't be surprised if she is not gonna be home in a while," Yongguk said.

"I really don't care if she is home or not," Hyungwon didn't want to talk to his brother in a mean way but he just had to act like he didn't care.

"Sure," Yongguk turned to the door he had just came in from and opened it. "I'm gonna close up now so would you leave."

Hyungwon glanced at him for the last time before walking out and leaving. He tried to switch his thoughts to something else but his parents which was easy. He was good at avoiding topics he didn't want to think about.

Being on a skateboard, he reached the park quickly. It wasn't late yet so there were still some people with Hoseok. They all noticed him coming but other than Hoseok, didn't really pay attention to him. Hyungwon got off his board and started walking to the younger.

"Where were you?" Hoseok asked and started heading towards Hyungwon as well.

Hyungwon didn't answer because he had already reached Hoseok and wrapped his hands around the shorter guy's body. He was holding Hoseok tightly, his other hand behind Hoseok's back and the another behind his head that was laying on his shoulder.

"What is this suddenly?" Hoseok asked. He wasn't trying to move away from the hug and just enjoyed it silently.

"I told you I wanted to hug you," Hyungwon simply said.

"But why?"

"I just felt like doing it."

"Okay..."

After a while, Hyungwon slowly let Hoseok go. Hoseok had a slight blush and a small smile on his face. Hyungwon held his hand.

"Do you want to go to my house for tonight?" he asked. It was getting late soon and Hoseok would either have to go home or go with Hyungwon, who found himself actually hoping that Hoseok wouldn't want to go home.

"Yes," Hoseok answered with a nod. He had came to the point where he didn't care what his parents thought anymore. Previously he would have went home without them calling for him just to please them but now he would rather disobey them. He was mad at them and making them mad at him too was what he wanted to do.

"Alright, let's go," Hyungwon put his hand on Hoseok's shoulders and turned around to start to walk away.

"Bye Gallagher and Hyunwoo," Hoseok waved goodbye to the two guys that were left at the park. Gingerboy wasn't paying any attention to Hoseok so it took him a while to react and wave back.

-

"Let's go check some food," Hyungwon said as soon as they arrived to his house. They walked up the stairs to the kitchen. It was dark in the house and Hyungwon was snapping on the lights as they walked along the hallways.

The refrigerator, like usual, was packed with different kinds of food. Hyungwon scanned it for a while before closing the door.

"There is nothing to eat," he sighed and went through some other drawers too. There was so much things they could eat but Hyungwon acted like there was nothing.

"You're unbelievable," Hoseok muttered and looked around in the kitchen. He couldn't understand why Hyungwon wouldn't eat anything from the refrigerator. The food there would just go to waste. Since he didn't have that big of a selection at home himself - he was lucky if there ever was something to eat - Hoseok found it wrong that Hyungwon just ignored the food like that.

"I'm too lazy to go grocery shopping," Hyungwon said and started walking towards the living room.

"What do you even need to buy?" Hoseok asked since there seemed to already be everything in the refrigerator.

"Chicken," Hyungwon answered simply. "And beer."

"Beer?" Hoseok snorted.

"And peanut butter."

"Alright," he rolled his eyes. Hyungwon wanted the weirdest things. "Where your parents are?"

"Mom left and dad is probably working or drinking," Hyungwon answered, sounding way more casual about that than Hoseok thought he should have.

"Left? What do you mean left?" he lifted his eyebrows up a bit.

"I mean that she just left. Got fed up fighting with my dad, I guess," Hyungwon said and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"How are you so chill about it? I mean your mom just left and you're acting like it's nothing," Hoseok wondered if Hyungwon was joking about the whole thing.

"That's because it is nothing," Hyungwon's lips formed a straight line. He continued walking along the hallway. "I really don't care."

Hoseok didn't take the argument any further and kept quiet as they stopped in front of the door of Yongguk's room. Without even knocking or anything, Hyungwon opened the door and stepped in. Hoseok didn't follow Hyungwon in but standing on the doorway, he managed to see inside the dim room that was much smaller than Hyungwon's.

Hyungwon's older brother and some other guy were sitting in front of a desk, staring at a computer screen, shoulders pressed against each other as they were trying to see the screen closely. They both turned to look at Hyungwon.

"Do you ever learn to knock?" Yongguk asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"No," Hyungwon said nonchalantly. "Will you go to the store today?"

"No," Yongguk answered in the same manner Hyungwon had.

"Okay, good. Buy chicken, beer and peanut butter," Hyungwon finished and turned around to leave. Acting like the answer had been a yes was the best way to get his brother to do something. Yongguk gave him another annoyed look and then turned back to the computer.

Hyungwon close the door behind him and started walking along the hallway back to his own room. Hoseok just followed quietly.

"Looks like we're getting new music from Yongguk any time soon," Hyungwon said, smiling.

"What? I thought he doesn't rap anymore," Hoseok stepped next to Hyungwon to see if he was being for real.

"So did I but they were just producing something," Hyungwon seemed happy about what he had just witnessed. They walked down the stairs to Hyungwon's room. "That guy, Youjin, he makes lit beats. I didn't know they were close."

"My inner Yongguk fanboy is awakening," Hoseok said with a smile.

"I'm scared that Yongguk will replace me some day," Hyungwon stepped close to him and made him back away towards the bed.

"He is only four years older than me," Hoseok wondered to himself, knowing how he was annoying Hyungwon. "Maybe I'll go hit on him when I'm legal."

"Just know that I will fight him and it won't be pretty," Hyungwon said.

"It would be nice to have two hot guys fighting over me," Hoseok continued joking. He sat on the bed and crossed his legs, not breaking his stare at Hyungwon.

"A boy can dream," Hyungwon sat in front of him. "Real talk now, though. Do you like me or Yongguk more."

"Of course I like Yon..." Hoseok extended the last word to see Hyungwon's face slowly turn to a shock. "You."

"That's what I thought," Hyungwon smiled. He stood on his knees to be higher than Hoseok and put his hands on both sides of the guy's face.

Hoseok had to tilt his neck back as Hyungwon leaned down and their lips met. The kiss became deeper almost straight away and soon Hoseok was already laying on the bed, Hyungwon on top of him. They never managed to have innocent little kisses because they always turned into heated making out sessions.

While the kiss went on, the video came to Hyungwon's mind and as hard as he tried to push it away, he only thought about it more and became more and more disgusted. The kiss hadn't even lasted for that long when Hyungwon already pulled away and got off from on top of Hoseok. He sat on the bed and sighed deeply, staring at a wall and trying to push away the thoughts that had came to his mind.

Hoseok sat up next to him. He sensed that something was wrong and got all kinds of suspicions - what if Hyungwon didn't like him anymore after those jokes about Yongguk.

"Hoseok," Hyungwon started after the silence had gone on for a while.

Hoseok waited for a while for Hyungwon to continue what he was about to say but when that didn't happen, he said a little, "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" Hyungwon seemed unsure and doubtful which Hoseok found concerning.

"Go ahead..." Hoseok wanted to know what it was about but at the same time he got a bit uneasy.

"It's something very private," Hyungwon quickly glanced at Hoseok who was just staring at him. Hoseok brows furrowed for a second.

"How are you this hesitant?" Hoseok let out a restrained laugh, trying to ease the weird tension that was between them. "I'm getting nervous."

"Have you ever had sex?" Hyungwon finally managed to blurt out his question.

"W-what," Hoseok stuttered for an answer. He got a bit taken aback by the sudden question. He felt himself starting to blush and cursed at himself inside his mind for being like that.

"Sorry for asking such a thing when it's none of my business," Hyungwon tried to explain. He seemed so unconfident compared to what he usually was.

"I have never," Hoseok answered the question after getting over the surprise of it. The atmosphere had turned really awkward.

"Are you sure? You have never been touched in such a way?" Hyungwon bombed him with more questions. He seemed to be serious and Hoseok wondered what was this all about.

"I'm sure. I have never even had a proper relationship before you," Hoseok said. Hyungwon let out a relieved sigh. He was acting weird. Hoseok was suspicious but he didn't know why. "Why are you asking?"

"I-I just wanted to know if you have, that's all," Hyungwon explained quickly - the real reason he asked was to know if something else had happened between Hoseok and the dance teacher than what he had seen in the video.

"Well, you got your answer now," Hoseok said, trying his best to sound casual to get rid of the weird mood that Hyungwon's question had brought.

"I did," Hyungwon laughed. He and Hoseok stared at each other in the eyes for a while before Hoseok opened his mouth to ask something that Hyungwon never expected to hear.

"Can we do it?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this whole chapter is just sexual content so....

"W-what?" it was Hyungwon's turn to stutter. He blinked his eyes rapidly a few times.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Hoseok asked. He was already getting embarrassed and regretful. Hyungwon slowly nodded. He was sure he had misunderstood Hoseok's words. "I want to do it," Hoseok then repeated.

Hyungwon let out a sigh and Hoseok immediately took it as an answer without even hearing out what Hyungwon would say.

"Forget I even said that. I don't know what I was thinking," he quickly said and avoided Hyungwon's gaze again.

"Hoseok, I have never felt this way about anyone," Hyungwon started. He spoke in a calm voice and held Hoseok's hands. "I'm afraid if we move too quickly, something might happen."

"Why anything would happen?" Hoseok asked, not even trying to hide how disappointed he was after Hyungwon's denial.

"I just don't want to lose you," Hyungwon was feeling almost as nervous as Hoseok was. It was new for him since he was usually confident.

"You won't," Hoseok said and looked at Hyungwon again. Once the other guy kept quiet, Hoseok added, "I promise."

"Have you thought about this?" Hyungwon questioned. He even felt himself that he was being too much but he just needed to be sure Hoseok was really ready.

Hoseok nodded. He had spent some time overthinking the situation and wondering, how he should approach Hyungwon - which now happened smoothly as they had been talking about a close topic.

Hyungwon pecked Hoseok's cheek and stood up, slowly letting go of his hand as he walked away to the other side of the room. He grabbed a remote from a counter and turned speakers on. He put the music to the loudest since Yongguk was home and Hyungwon wouldn't want his older brother hearing anything - although the sudden loud music would already reveal what was going on.

He turned back to Hoseok who was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, looking at Hyungwon with an expression which made him look a bit like a sad puppy. Or confused one, Hyungwon wasn't sure. He just looked really innocent like that. His cheeks were red because of the embarrassment and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie - which was also a big part of his look because the baggy piece of clothing made him look even more small. Hyungwon approached him slowly and when he got there, climbed on top of him.

Hyungwon was on top of Hoseok, his legs spread wide on both sides of him. He had his hand on the side of Hoseok's face and lifted the guy's chin up with that to lean down and press their lips together. Hoseok's hand came up behind Hyungwon's neck to pull him down.

Hyungwon was being really gentle and careful, maybe even too much in Hoseok's opinion. Hoseok kissed him back harder to get him to realize that. Hyungwon stopped holding himself back and pressed Hoseok down against the bed.

Unlike on the previous time, Hoseok didn't push Hyungwon away when the guy's hand came under his shirt and lifted it up. As insecure he was about his body, this time he wouldn't stop Hyungwon. Like that, his shirt came off, the kiss breaking for a while but then continuing heated.

Hyungwon's shirt came off, too, and Hoseok could stare at his abs for a millisecond before having to close his eyes to enjoy the kiss. He wasn't envious of Hyungwon's body but he did admire those muscles that made him feel even worse about his skinny-pack.

Hyungwon moved his body in a rhythm with his kisses. Hoseok felt himself getting hotter as the bulge in Hyungwon's jeans rubbed against him. Blood started rushing down, making his manhood get harder. Hyungwon's lips left Hoseok's and started going down his jawline to his neck, leaving behind a trail of kisses.

Reaching the bottom of his neck, the crook before collarbone, Hyungwon sucked on it for a while, pulling and licking the skin, causing Hoseok to let out a sharp breath. Hyungwon continued his way down until he had reached Hoseok's nipple and gave a lick to the sensitive skin.

His hand trailed down along Hoseok's stomach to the line of his sweatpants. He went back on leaving kisses on Hoseok's chest as his hand slid under the sweatpants. Hoseok's head arched back and a gasp left his lips as Hyungwon's hand wrapped around his cock.

Hyungwon came back to Hoseok's level and continued kissing his lips while his hand slowly moved up and down along Hoseok's length. Hoseok let out what seemed to be a moan and Hyungwon felt the vibrations of it against his lips and tongue that was halfway in Hoseok's mouth.

Their lips came apart with a wet smack. Hyungwon stood on his knees and his hand came out from Hoseok's pants, leaving the cock, which was now already standing on it's own and poking out a tent of Hoseok's sweats. Hyungwon slowly backed away until he was next to Hoseok's legs, softly trailing along the skin of Hoseok's side so the guy wouldn't be left untouched for even a moment.

He grabbed the pants by the band and started pulling them down. Hoseok helped by lifting his bottom up a bit. The sweatpants and underwear came off at once and Hoseok was now laying completely naked in front of Hyungwon. For a moment, embarrassment hit him because he had nothing to cover himself with and just wanted to hide his body but that was soon forgotten when Hyungwon - now in between his legs - crouched down and pressed his lips against the sensitive skin of Hoseok's inner thigh.

He sucked on the skin on that thigh, his hand grabbing the other one, and slowly moved towards the gigantic thing standing there like a post - not that Hoseok was that big but Hyungwon still found it impressive for a young kid that Hoseok was.

Hyungwon licked the whole way from the bottom to the very tip of Hoseok's dick. He put his lips on it and pushed his head down until Hoseok's had entered his mouth. Hoseok's hand came down in Hyungwon's hair and it gave Hyungwon some motivation boost to feel Hoseok pulling his hair. He sucked on the tip for a while before pushing his head as down as possible to see how deep he could get Hoseok in.

After finding that out, he started to move his head up and down, hollowing his cheeks and pressing his tongue against the length. Hoseok pulled his hair harder and pushed his hips up, causing the tip of his dick to hit the back of Hyungwon's throat. Hyungwon, luckily, didn't have much of a gag reflex which was something to be proud of even though he didn't give head to guys often.

Hyungwon's mouth left Hoseok but he continued to work with his hand as he reached to take something from his bedside table with the other one. He threw the small condom package and a bottle, which Hoseok for some reason knew to be lube, to the bed.

He took the bottle, clicked it open and poured the clear substance on tip of his fingers. Hoseok started to get a nervous feeling in his stomach which made his muscles tense.

Hyungwon made Hoseok spread his legs wide to the both sides of the bed. He came back up to kiss Hoseok while his index finger circled around Hoseok's hole. Hyungwon kissed him slowly but then pulled away a bit as he slowly pushed his one finger inside the hole. Hoseok inhaled sharply and pressed his head against the bed more heavily.

"Are you okay?" Hyungwon asked softly and quietly. Hoseok was quiet for a while and seemed to be holding his breath. Then he nodded rapidly after getting adjusted to the feeling of something inside him.

Upon getting an answer, Hyungwon moved his finger out and then back in, twisting and bending it to get Hoseok stretched more. He didn't do that for long before already inserting a second finger. Hoseok's hand came to hold Hyungwon's shoulder and he gasped again, pressing his eyes shut tightly. Hyungwon kissed him and after a while, started to move his fingers again, doing a scissoring motion with them.

"Are you hurt?" Hyungwon asked in that same, gentle tone. He was still moving his fingers slowly and Hoseok was still tensing his muscles. He nodded again.

"I'm okay."

"Open your eyes," Hyungwon said, giving Hoseok yet another quick kiss. Hoseok finally opened his eyes that, unlike Hyungwon feared, weren't teary.

Keeping an eye contact with Hoseok, Hyungwon pushed in his third, lube-coated finger. Hoseok's grip on his shoulder tightened and nails pressed against his skin but Hyungwon didn't mind that. Hoseok's other hand had came down to hold Hyungwon's wrist so he couldn't move his fingers yet. The eye contact had broken and Hoseok was now staring at the ceiling. Hyungwon leaned down to press kisses on Hoseok's neck and chest as he waited for his wrist to be freed.

After a while, Hoseok's grip on Hyungwon's wrist finally loosened. Hyungwon pulled his fingers out and pushed them back in, Hoseok letting out a whimper as he did so and tried to close his legs but couldn't as Hyungwon was in between them. Hyungwon continued moving his fingers slowly until he finally felt Hoseok's muscles loosening and him being stretched enough.

He pulled his fingers out and stood up from the bed to take his pants off. He squeezed a big amount of lube on top of his half-hard member and gave it a few quick strokes while coming back on top of Hoseok.

"Are you ready?" he asked from the heavily breathing boy. Hoseok just nodded like he had done on the previous questions. He felt himself getting nervous again and had that clutching feeling on his stomach. Hyungwon kissed him while positioning himself better on top of Hoseok and used one hand to press the tip of his dick against Hoseok's hole.

He brought that hand up to hold Hoseok's shoulder and slowly pushed his tip in. Hoseok pressed his lips tightly together as he was trying to hold himself back from letting out any sounds.

"Are you-?" Hyungwon was about to ask again but Hoseok cut him off.

"Yes," he said quickly. It was sweet how caring Hyungwon was but Hoseok felt like it would start to annoy him at some point. Hyungwon was doing everything so slowly.

Hyungwon pushed himself in more, almost all the way, and stayed still for a while so Hoseok could get adjusted of the size. He pulled himself halfway out and then back in, getting a small whimper out of Hoseok. He continued doing that, slowly at first but then picking up the pace a bit.

Hoseok was letting out moans every now and then and his hand came to find Hyungwon's which was holding his hip. Hyungwon held his hand and as he thrust in Hoseok, happening to hit just the right spot, Hoseok squeezed his hand tightly while letting out a moan. Hyungwon could see that at first Hoseok had been trying to hold all the moans in but after it had proved to be really hard, he was now letting everything out - because of the gangsta rap blasting at full volume, no one else could hear him but Hyungwon anyways.

Hyungwon leaned down to kiss Hoseok, not letting go of the hand he was holding. They kissed each other slowly and heavily for a while but then when Hyungwon continued to hit Hoseok's prostrate, the guy couldn't keep kissing anymore and had to turn his head away to let out all the moans and to breathe properly.

Hyungwon brought his free hand down and wrapped it around Hoseok's cock, pumping it in the same rhythm with his thrusts. Hoseok didn't say anything but from the grip that tightened in his hand again, Hyungwon knew he was about to be finished. He continued to move his hand along Hoseok's length and moving his hips up and down.

Hoseok was in the verge of losing it. He had no idea that anything could feel that good and what he was just experiencing, exceeded all the expectations he had about pleasure. All he could do was moan, squeeze Hyungwon's hand and pull his hair.

His breath hitched as he reached the peak. He cock was pulsing out his cum, it spreading over Hyungwon's hand and his own stomach. Hyungwon continued jerking it out and pushing himself in the younger boy, slowing his pace.

Hoseok's panting was starting to slow down and Hyungwon pulled himself out. He brought the hand that was now covered in Hoseok's sperm and jacked himself off until he came too.

After he was done, he leaned down to kiss Hoseok who didn't take much longer than a split second to kiss him back and bring a hand to hold the side of his face. They kissed for a while, it being much slower and calmer than a while ago.

Hyungwon pulled away at some point and stood up from the bed. He walked to the bathroom and Hoseok heard the water running. He came back a moment later, holding a wet cloth. He cleaned Hoseok's body from the sperm first, then himself. He threw the cloth to the floor and laid down next to Hoseok, pulling a blanket to cover their naked lower bodies.

Hoseok turned to lay on his side to face Hyungwon. They stared at each other for a while. Hyungwon brought his hand up to brush some of Hoseok's hair off his forehead. He had a small smile on his face.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, still running his hand through Hoseok's hair.

"I feel amazing," Hoseok said, getting a smile on his own face too.

"I'm glad."

Hyungwon wrapped his arms around Hoseok's body and regardless of the music still playing in the background, Hoseok's breathing got heavier and he fell asleep in Hyungwon's arms.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a special chapter only about gingerwoo (gingerboy x hyunwoo)

After Hoseok and Hyungwon had left, Hyunwoo and Gingerboy were left alone at the park. Hyunwoo was fooling around under the ramp with his scooter meanwhile Gingerboy sat on top of it, fidgeting with his phone and spinning it around between his fingers.

"You like Hoseok, don't you?" Hyunwoo suddenly said, not even looking up to Ginger but just continuing to try to do some tricks with the scoot.

"What?" Gingerboy let out and stopped playing with his phone to stare at Hyunwoo with wide eyes. He tried to seem confused but wasn't really good actor - anyone could see through him, especially Hyunwoo. "I do," he then admitted, not even bothering to lie to Hyunwoo even though he felt shameful to admit the fact that he liked Hoseok.

"I guessed it from how jealous you looked just now when Hyungwon hugged him. And I already realized it back when Hyungwon suddenly attacked you," Hyunwoo stopped what he was doing and just leaned on the handle bar with his arms. He still wasn't looking at Gingerboy.

Ginger didn't say anything and continued to play with his phone to distract himself - he always had to be doing something with his hands or feet, he couldn't just stay still.

"I kind of wished to be wrong, though," Hyunwoo sighed and straightened his back again. He did a small round around the park with his scooter.

Gingerboy felt like he needed to explain something to Hyunwoo but he couldn't get anything out from his mouth. Once so talkative guy was staying silent that day, his constant tiredness being part of the reason.

"Are you going home?" Hyunwoo asked after getting back to where Ginger was.

"I don't know," Gingerboy muttered and looked to the direction where his house was. "I don't feel like taking any beatings today."

Hyunwoo sighed and glanced at that direction as well. "Come to my house for a while. It's not that late yet," he then said and started heading away from the park to his own house. Gingerboy slid down the ramp, grabbed his skateboard and followed. He ran a few steps to catch Hyunwoo and then continued walking next to him.

They didn't really talk during the way home, which was unusual since normally they always had something to talk about. Hyunwoo understood it since Ginger had seemed to be a bit out of it the whole day and he had been through a lot - getting attacked by Minhyuk and having to withstand his hatred towards Hyungwon. Hyunwoo wanted to make him feel better but wasn't sure, what he could do.

"Are you hungry?" he asked while opening the door of his apartment.

"Yeah. Your mom working night?" Ginger asked as he stepped in after Hyunwoo and closed the door behind him.

"Looks like it," Hyunwoo answered after scanning the floor to see which shoes were there. They left theirs in the pile of some other shoes and walked in the kitchen. Gingerboy automatically sat in the same place he always did, the one that had his cup in it. "I'm going to boil some ramen quickly," Hyunwoo said and started to go through the headboards for a kettle and few packs of instant noodles.

Gingerboy let out a sleepy, "Mhm..." and put his arms on top of the table to lay his head on them.

Hyunwoo didn't see it because he was facing the other way and had his back turned against Gingerboy as he boiled the water in silence. After dropping the ramen in the water and turning back around to carry the pot to the table, he noticed that the red haired guy was sleeping there. Trying to be as quiet as he could, Hyunwoo set the pot on the table and walked to the other side to sit next to Ginger.

"He must be really tired," he whispered and laid his head on the table in the same way Gingerboy had. 

Ginger was never really the one to sleep a lot. He sure was always the first person to pass out when drinking but he also woke up early in the morning. He liked to go out and do things rather than sleep. He was always bright and cheerful so no one ever really thought about whether he was tired or not because he didn't let it show. Sometimes after a really long and exhausting day, Hyunwoo could notice it from his eyes that he was tired and even then, although he would fall asleep as soon as he let his head hit the pillow, Ginger would still stay he isn't tired yet. Now that his medication gave him such side effects, he couldn't help but fall asleep here and there.

Hyunwoo studied Gingerboy's face for a while. Among all the other older and newer cuts and bruises on his face, there was now a fresh one forming on his cheekbone after the hit he had received from Minhyuk. Hyunwoo wanted to reach out his hand and touch it but didn't since he knew it would hurt the boy. Gingerboy's lips were now plump because his cheek was laying on his hand and it made them point out. Unconsciously Hyunwoo found himself closing his eyes and starting to lean closer.

Hyunwoo leaned closer and closer until their lips were less than an inch away from each other. He wanted to get even closer to make their lips touch but something was stopping him. He wasn't sure why but he just couldn't do it. There was a weird feeling inside his chest. He let out a shaky breath against Gingerboy's lips.

Gingerboy woke up, his eyes snapping open and head rising up from the table so fast that it made Hyunwoo startled. Hyunwoo backed away, sat up straight and grabbed some chopsticks from the table to try to act casual although the fact that he had just been about to kiss Gingerboy seemed pretty obvious.

"The fuck was that?" Gingerboy yelped loud and it made Hyunwoo, who was dragging the pot across the table closer to them, to freeze on the spot. He placed the chopsticks back down.

"I wasn't trying to do anything," Hyunwoo tried to explain but it was clear that Ginger didn't even listen to him.

"You just said today that you know I like Hoseok," Gingerboy continued with raised voice. He seemed mad and somewhat sad at the same time. "Then why you- Why the fuck'd you even do this? Are you trynna play me just 'cuz you know I like someone who is a guy. You know I don't use to swing that way."

"When will you get over that stupid little crush of yours and realize that I have always been here for you!" Hyunwoo's voice rose as well but it wasn't his tone but his words that made Gingerboy stop completely.

"What does that mean?" he asked, his voice back to it's normal decibel level.

"It means what it means. I have been friends with you for a long time and I have always supported you when you have had a hard time - which is often - and gave you place to stay and food to eat when you don't want to go home. I have taken care of you all the time no one else has and then you're just going to go and like someone else you have known for two months," Hyunwoo sounded really mad and Gingerboy just stared at him, his eyes wide.

"W-wha-," Gingerboy stuttered, not knowing what to say. He felt dizzy, as if he was still half-asleep.

"Are you really dumb or just acting like you are?" Hyunwoo questioned, his eyebrows wrinkled because he was angry. He usually didn't talk to Gingerboy with a tone like that which made the situation even more confusing to the younger one.

"Why are you yelling at me, I really don't know what you're talking about!" Ginger felt his eyes getting filled with tears and tried his best to hold them open so any tears wouldn't fall, even though it burned. He had been emotional lately and hoped that it was also because of the meds he took because he hated to feel like he was weak.

"You don't know what I'm talking about? I liked you for the longest time without you ever noticing me and then you start to have feelings for someone else so I have every right to be angry!"

"You never told me," Gingerboy let out in a quiet voice. He stood up and walked away to the balcony quickly before Hyunwoo would notice him crying.

Ginger was leaning against the railing of the balcony, the habitual menthol cigarette in between the fingers of his right hand. He was just staring at somewhere afar. It was already almost dark outside so he could only see what was being spotlighted by streetlights. The smoke and being alone had helped him to stop his emotions and now he was back to his usual self in a hard shell.

A heavy cloud of smoke just exhaled from his mouth as he heard someone else coming to the balcony. Hyunwoo came beside him, leaning against the railing in the same way he was.

"I'm sorry for getting so mad at you. I should know better than to do so," Hyunwoo sighed. He sounded regretful.

"It's a'ight," Gingerboy muttered, bringing the cigarette back to his lips. It wasn't quite 'alright' for him but he had to say that to make Hyunwoo feel better. He knew that Hyunwoo was a bit sensitive like that - he took things to himself easily and blamed himself from everything he had or hadn't caused.

They stayed silent for a while. Gingerboy continued smoking and Hyungwon tried his best to avoid getting it into his lungs. He really hated smoking but even after thousand tries, he couldn't get Ginger to stop ruining his health.

"I know it's selfish of me to ruin our friendship by confessing like this but please, don't hate me," Hyunwoo then said, pleading.

"Hate you?" Ginger snorted and glanced at Hyunwoo. "Wanna hear something?"

The two of them looked at each other and as Hyunwoo didn't say anything, Ginger turned his head away to talk. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. Then he closed it and let out a sigh.

"Never mind," he said and was about to turn around to leave again but Hyunwoo grabbed his arm.

"Let's just talk for a while," he slowly let go of Ginger's arm and the younger leaned back against the railing. "Just say what you gotta say. I won't let you go home upset. You can stay here for the night if it gets too late."

Gingerboy let out a sigh and looked at Hyunwoo from the corner of his eye. He tapped the cigarette carefully against the railing to get rid of the ashes. He was trying to save it for as long as he could because he knew that if he tried to take another one, Hyunwoo would stop him.

"It's just that," he started talking again after a while. Hyunwoo looked at him carefully. _'I have liked you for so long and I knew you would never like me back so I tried to forget about it by liking someone else but it didn't work out and now I don't know what to do because I still like you so much and right now I'm talking to myself inside my head because I can't get the words out.'_

"It's just what?" Hyunwoo asked because it had been almost a minute and Gingerboy hadn't said anything. "Look, I understand that you don't want to talk about this since you obviously have feelings for someone else. So let's just keep my confession as a meaningless late-night talk."

"I'm so hungry," Gingerboy said and took a last drag from his cigarette before turning around and pressing it against an ash tray on the other side of the balcony. He walked back inside the apartment and Hyunwoo followed him soon after.

They sat next to the kitchen table. Gingerboy took chopsticks and the lid of the pot and started eating the already a bit cold ramen noodles off of it. Hyunwoo, on the opposite side of him, was eating straight from the pot. Ginger was so hungry that he didn't talk at all and just ate non-stop, slurping up most of the food while Hyunwoo just let him eat as much as he wanted.

After the food was gone, they went in Hyunwoo's room. Gingerboy sat on the bed and took out his phone. Hyunwoo started taking his clothes off until he was wearing only underwear. Ginger didn't react in any way because it was nothing new for him.

"I'm going to take a shower," Hyunwoo announced and started heading out of the room. Gingerboy quickly looked at him over his phone.

"I'll leave while you're in there," he said, lowering his eyes back to the phone. "I just need to chill for a sec before I go."

Hyunwoo nodded and left the room. Soon Ginger could hear the shower running. He continued to look through his phone for a while longer before he would leave.

Hyunwoo showered for a long time because he had a lot to think about. He was regretting that day's events a lot and wished that he could just go back to the beginning of that same day and do everything differently. He didn't know what in the world he had expected to get by confessing to Gingerboy - it had just happened. Knowing that Ginger liked a boy had given him some confidence boost that maybe there was a chance he could like another guy too. Just because he liked one boy doesn't mean he is gay, Hyunwoo said to himself.

All the disappointment bottled up inside Hyunwoo suddenly came out and he spent a good while crying in the shower. He usually always thought that he was the one in their group who had things the best, regardless of being raised by a single mom who got money by god knows how. At that moment, though, he thought nothing was well for him and he was the most miserable one.

After he was done with showering and walked back to his own room, he was greeted by the sight of Gingerboy sleeping soundly on his bed. The boy had fallen asleep there in a weird position, a phone still in his hand. The sight made Hyunwoo's heart clutch.

He walked over to the younger and covered him with a blanket. Then he sat on the mattress on the floor himself. It was the mattress Gingerboy usually slept on and they never took it away because it was used very often. Sitting on the floor and staring at the sleeping redhead reminded Hyunwoo of one of the times Gingerboy had been sick and he had had to take care of him.

"Sleep well," Hyunwoo whispered and laid down on the mattress, hoping that the next day things would be back to normal between them.


	33. Chapter 33

For Hoseok, the feeling of waking up next to Hyungwon was unbeatable. He was glad to be the first one to wake up so he could stare at the deeply sleeping Hyungwon for a while before the guy would wake up. If it had been the other way around, he would feel awkward about it.

His alarm rang and it woke Hyungwon up too. The older groaned and stretched out his hands to wrap them around Hoseok.

"Let's sleep a bit more," he said with his eyes closed. Hoseok didn't want to agree but it felt so comfortable to be in Hyungwon's arms that suddenly he didn't want to go either.

"What are you doing today?" Hyungwon asked at some point when Hoseok thought he was sleeping again.

"After school I'm going to stay there to clean and then I promised to go out with Minhyuk and Byungchul," Hoseok explained and tried to see Hyungwon's reaction but the guy was just keeping his eyes closed.

"What are you doing with them?" Hyungwon asked, clearly being a bit jealous.

"There is this one fest downtown. Apparently there is some skateboarding thing there too," Hoseok explained. He has pretty much no idea where he was going but the skating part had bought him to agree on going.

"Oh right. There is a competition. Maybe I should take part in it now that I know that you're gonna be watching," Hyungwon let out a laugh. Hoseok wasn't sure if he was being serious or not but he thought it would be cool to see Hyungwon competing.

"You should," Hoseok said and looked at the clock again. "I gotta go now."

He got up from the bed although Hyungwon still tried to make him stay by clinging on to him as long as he could. Hoseok put his clothes on turned back to smile at him.

"Aren't you gonna go?" he asked since Hyungwon showed no signs of planning on getting up from the bed.

"I will go in an hour."

"Lazy ass," Hoseok muttered and Hyungwon smiled wide. He reached out his hand to put it behind Hoseok's back to pull him closer. Then he sat up himself and moved his hand up behind Hoseok's neck, pulled him down and connected their lips.

"That's what you get," he said and let Hoseok go. Hoseok walked to get his backpack. "See you later."

Hoseok gave him a smile again and left to school as Hyungwon continued sleeping. He felt really good that morning and not even the thought of having to be at school for extra hours and then having to hand out with Minhyuk and Byungchul was weighing him down. He knew it was because of what had happened between him and Hyungwon on the might before. It had made him feel like Hyungwon really liked him. He felt less depressive than he had felt in a long time.

-

When Hoseok arrived to the park after his duties at school - he and Minhyuk had agreed on meeting there since the other had some stuff to take care of - there was no one else but Jooheon there. He stepped on his skateboard and headed to where Jooheon was.

"Why are you alone here?" he asked on his way there and his question made Jooheon notice him.

"Changkyun left to get some food with Gingerboy and Yoonsun," Jooheon said and stopped his BMX to sit on it.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Hoseok asked and stood in front of him, moving the skateboard back and forth under his right foot.

"I'm waiting for Nahyun. I was supposed to go to the fest with her," Jooheon looked around to see if his girl would finally be arriving but there was no one in sight. Not her and not the guys Hoseok was waiting for.

"What fest?"

"I'm not sure. She just said it will be fun," Jooheon shrugged. He seemed upset in a way and Hoseok felt like he didn't trust Nahyun to arrive. Maybe he had been waiting for long already and was losing hope.

"I think it might be the same one where I'm going with Minhyuk and Byungchul," he said and Jooheon's eyebrows rose a bit in surprise.

"Why are you going anywhere with them?"

"Just because they asked. I feel like they have ditched me though since they were supposed to be here already," Hoseok said and looked away from the park just like Jooheon had done a while ago. There was still no one coming and the two of them seemed to be in the same situation.

"Alright," Jooheon nodded and put his feet back on the pedals to continue riding his bike. "At least we're keeping each other company now," he said and went off with the bike, doing a small round around Hoseok to gather speed and go up the ramp.

"Yeah..." Hoseok muttered and got back on his skateboard. He watched as Jooheon did his trick and then started doing something himself.

At some point Jooheon stopped doing what he was doing to follow Hoseok. Most of the times they were at the park, there were many other people and Jooheon was always busy doing different things and never really paid attention to how Hoseok was doing. Now that he did, he noticed that Hoseok was getting pretty good at that skateboarding thing.

"Has dating Hyungwon the legend given you some extra skills?" he asked laughing. Hoseok glanced at him and laughed as well.

"You must not know a lot about skateboarding if you think I got skills," he said and tried to go up the ramp but couldn't get all the way there so he just took his board in his hand and jumped up to sit up there.

"Trust me, I actually know a lot about skateboarding even though I don't skate," Jooheon left his bike on the ground and came up too to sit next to Hoseok.

"Oh really? How about that one time you tried to teach Kihyun to skateboard and he broke his arm?"

"Well that was one time!" Jooheon yelped, clearly a bit embarrassed of that memory. The unavoidable fact was that he really didn't know a lot and his teaching sucked - Hoseok would have a scar to remind him of it for a long time.

"Right," Hoseok snorted and took out his phone to see if he had any messages from Hyungwon, which he hadn't. "Is your date coming or not," he asked from Jooheon.

"I'm not leaving this park until she shows up," Jooheon said sounding determined. He seemed to be actually committed to this relationship.

"Nahyun is lucky to have someone so persistent," Hoseok laughed and slid halfway down the ramp to reach to his backpack on the bottom.

As he extended his arm, the sleeve of his hoodie got up a bit and what it revealed caught Jooheon's eyes automatically. Seeing the vertical scars on his wrist, some old and some newer ones, made Jooheon's mouth get dry because he knew immediately what they were without having to question anything.

Hoseok didn't realize it. He just got back up and looked for a pack of cigarettes from the backpack. He had bought a new pack from Gingerboy earlier that day - it would be his last since his parents wouldn't give him allowance anymore and he would run out of money soon enough. Jooheon was just staring at him quietly as he put a cigarette to his lips and lighted it up.

"Hey man, you okay?" Jooheon asked with a hint of a stutter. Hoseok looked at him with a questioning expression, wondering what suddenly got to him.

"Yeah, why?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you want to like, hang out some day?" Jooheon asked another question without answering to Hoseok. He knew the guy wouldn't want to talk about his scars so he thought he should just approach the guy some other way.

"We're hanging out almost every day?" Hoseok said, making Jooheon feel dumb.

"But if some day you want to do something else than just to be at the park then hit me up. I want to be a friend you can rely on, alright."

"Okay..." Hoseok felt awkward because he didn't know why Jooheon was suddenly talking about things like that. "Nahyun is coming."

"I gotta go," Jooheon quickly got down and took his bike. "See you at the fest maybe."

"Bye," Hoseok said as Jooheon cycled away to Nahyun. He looked after him and saw Hoseok getting down from the bike and giving the girl a kiss as he got to her. Then the two started walking side by side to the other direction.

Soon after Jooheon had left, Minhyuk finally came but he didn't have Byungchul with him. He stood in the bottom of the ramp, waiting for Hoseok to come down.

"Are we going? Byungchul has a fucking date so it's just the two of us," he said with annoyed tone. Hoseok put his backpack on and got down on Minhyuk's level.

"A date? You're kidding, right?" Hoseok snorted but Minhyuk just shook his head as they started walking away from the park.

"I wish I was. I should get a girlfriend too," Minhyuk wondered but Hoseok felt like he was only joking. He didn't sound that serious. "Is that tomboy girl from your group single?"

"Yoonsun?" Hoseok suddenly remembered how Minhyuk had bashed on that girl the other weekend at Nahyun's party. "She's taken," he said just because he didn't want Minhyuk to try to approach Yoonsun.

"Damn, there is no pretty girls at my class," Minhyuk sighed. Their bus came and they got on. "Maybe I should try boys like you. They're much more good looking than girls."

Hoseok's eyes widened at 'like you'. If Minhyuk knew about his relationship, that would only lead to endless rounds of insulting and making fun about Hoseok's love life among all the other things.

"Why do you look so surprised? I know about the thing you have going on with Hyungwon. Heck, everybody knows," Minhyuk said, making Hoseok even more surprised than he already was.

"Everybody knows what?"

"That you're Hyungwon's new fuck," Minhyuk let out and after seeing Hoseok's expression, continued quickly, "Or well I don't know if you two are about more than just that but that's what everyone says. Since Hyungwon is a fuckboy and he only cares about sex."

Suddenly Hoseok didn't feel so good and he wasn't sure why. Being happy dating and shit, Hoseok had already forgotten about Hyungwon's characteristics but now he felt like the reality was hitting him again. Hyungwon had gotten what he wanted from Hoseok.

After the rest of the bus ride being silent, they arrived to the town. There were a lot of people there but Hoseok couldn't see anyone he knew.

"So, I guess you want to see that skating thing," Minhyuk said as they were just standing in the middle of the crowd, wondering which way to go.

"Yeah, sure, let's find it," Hoseok muttered and they started walking along the streets to the same direction others were going. He got a bit anguished feeling being surrounded by so many people and he hoped that there would be more space around the skateboarding area.

"Why aren't you competing," Minhyuk asked, clearly trying to make a conversation. It was quiet between them because they didn't hang out often and didn't really have things to talk about.

Hoseok laughed. "Because I suck. Hyungwon is competing, though," he said. He already saw the giant half-pipe that had been built in the middle of a park for this. They were some people gathered around it and announcer told the name of the person that was currently skateboarding in it.

"About Hyungwon..." Minhyuk started carefully. "There is something I need to tell you. You know I'm really bad at keeping secrets, I barely managed to keep it in until now."

"Tell me," Hoseok said, his anxiety level rising up. They stopped in the back of the crowd in front of the half-pipe.

"Uhm... I told Hyungwon."

Hoseok just stared at Minhyuk quietly. He felt like he didn't even need to ask what. Somehow part of him just knew what it was about. Or at least that part knew it couldn't have been anything positive, considering the way Minhyuk was approaching him with it.

"The video. I showed it to him. Afterwards he deleted it so there isn't a change anyone else could ever see it again," Minhyuk explained, his usual confidence gone.

Hoseok was still silent. He didn't know how to feel. He wasn't exactly angry at Minhyuk, he was only scared to think about the fact that Hyungwon knew about the most embarrassing memory in his life. The one that made him want to rather kill himself than let anyone know about it.

"You will never see me again," Hoseok snapped at Minhyuk and without waiting for any answer, he turned around and walked away quickly.

He didn't know when the reveal of his secret had taken place. Maybe it was during that same day. That would have explained why Minhyuk had been late. The only thing he knew that Hyungwon would hate him. Not for keeping a thing like that secret but having such a disgusting memory in general. Hoseok felt helpless. He didn't want to see neither of the two ever again. Not Minhyuk. Not Hyungwon. The latter just to save himself from the humiliation.

-

"Hyungwon, I think I screwed up. You know I just can't keep secrets," Minhyuk said quickly as soon as the older guy answered the phone. He had called as soon as Hoseok left, not knowing what to do.

"What did you do?" Hyungwon asked in a demanding tone, Minhyuk's frantic voice already making him nervous as well. He wouldn't have had to make many guesses to know what Minhyuk was on about.

"I told Hoseok and he... he just left," Minhyuk needed to let the truth out even though he feared for his own life - he was sure Hyungwon would beat him to death sooner or later. Knowing how fragile Hoseok was, he took the risk. If he could help to save a life, maybe he would be let off easily.

"Where did he go?" Hyungwon raised his voice more and Minhyuk got scared even when it was only through the phone.

"I don't know..." Minhyuk was starting to get scared himself, thinking about the fact that Hoseok, who had past suicidal development too, was somewhere alone in a dangerous state of mind.

"You don't know? Where is the last time you saw him?" Hyungwon was talking fast and loud, breathing heavily and Minhyuk could tell he was already running somewhere.

"In front of the skate venue. He walked away to where everyone comes from."

"If anything happens to him, it's your fault, remember that," Hyungwon said before hanging up the call. He ran upstream where the people were coming from, dialing Hoseok's number on the meantime.

Surprisingly, after some time, Hoseok picked up the phone.

"Do you hate me?" Hoseok asked before Hyungwon could say a thing.

"No, Hoseok, why would I ever hate you?" Hyungwon answered, having to slow down his pace a bit so he could talk with Hoseok properly. "Where are you?"

"I don't want you to see me. It's so shameful."

Hyungwon stopped completely to listen carefully and figure out where Hoseok was by the background noises. All he could hear was cars. He started running again. He ran until he had gotten to the bigger road. By instinct, he chose a direction and continued on the walkway.

His heart was beating fast and he couldn't think about anything. Ahead of him, he saw a bus stop next to the road with someone standing in it, looking at the upcoming cars. There were no one else but that one guy. Everybody else was at the fest and since it wasn't ending in a while, no one was going home yet.

Hyungwon ran again until he got there and saw Hoseok, who had an empty look in his red eyes as he watched the cars coming. He flinched as he noticed Hyungwon.

"Hoseok, you need to stop fucking doing this," Hyungwon said, trying his best to keep his tone calm although he was freaking out about how close to the road Hoseok was standing.

"You have no idea how bad I feel right now," Hoseok muttered, still staring at the cars coming up with the speed of probably fifty to sixty kilometers per hour.

"It's not a big deal. I'm not mad at you and I don't hate you. You shouldn't be ashamed of something like that, Hoseok, it's in the past," Hyungwon spoke as calmly as he could to make Hoseok stop freaking out too.

"This is the reason I wanted you or anyone else to never know."

"Why are you so afraid of people being worried for you?" Hyungwon asked and grabbed Hoseok by his arms to pull him away from the road into the bus stop.

"I don't want to be treated any differently just because I'm a depressed piece of shit and I have some traumatic experiences," Hoseok was mad but Hyungwon's presence was getting onto him and he felt himself starting to loosen up.

"The only reason I'm treating you different is because I love you. And because of that, I need to make sure that you won't be hating yourself or... jumping in front of cars just because you think you won't be loved anymore. You can't make decisions for someone else about whether they love or hate you, and me? I won't stop loving you no matter what," Hyungwon didn't speak softly at all, he sounded determined and harsh.

"You what?" Hoseok stuttered after Hyungwon had finally ended his speech.

"I love you, Hoseok. I hope you know that."


	34. Chapter 34

Hoseok's life was a roller coaster. One day he was the happiest and moments later, he was at his lowest point, only to be smiling brighter than ever after something as simple as 'I love you'. Hearing that, Hoseok had just hugged Hyungwon tightly and wouldn't let go in a while. He had forgotten everything for a moment and even the confession stopped echoing inside his mind.

Hyungwon had never seen him that genuinely happy. Hoseok had went back to his own home that night because he felt like giving a good 'fuck you' to his parents. He wanted to be with Hyungwon the most, though, and therefore the older had joined him.

His parents had approached him in an angry manner, bombing him with questions but gotten quiet after Hoseok had showed up middle fingers to them. He maybe should have picked something reasonable to say but he was proud of his action.

On Friday morning, he woke up in his own bed in Hyungwon's arms. The feeling had became common for him already but it never stopped feeling as good as it did. Hoseok smiled when he saw Hyungwon's sleeping face and brought his hand up from under the covers to brush Hyungwon's hair out of his forehead.

On the night before, they had had some serious conversation before falling asleep. It had been an unpleasant topic for Hoseok but for some reason, talking about it with Hyungwon had felt much more easier than even imagining having the same talk with anyone else.

"You have tried to end your life before, haven't you?" Hyungwon had asked, silently examining Hoseok's face and softly caressing his shoulder. Hoseok had only nodded. There was no use for him to lie or avoid it. "When was it?"

"Last year," Hoseok had answered, anxious to find out how Hyungwon would react hearing the truth.

"What was it?" Hyungwon had continued to ask questions. He seemed to take it as some ordinary subject to talk about, which had made it easier for Hoseok too. He couldn't handle too much pitying.

"I had trouble sleeping back then so my mom had given me melatonin. I took about a dozen of them with some liquor and woke up in hospital," Hoseok had been looking down because he didn't want to see Hyungwon's expressions.

"You're lucky to be alive. That could have gotten you killed."

"Well that was my goal," Hoseok had snorted, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing so Hyungwon wouldn't take it so serious either. "It took a while to get the doctors convinced that I didn't try to kill myself, though."

"What about your parents?"

"They just said that I had trouble sleeping because of exams and that it was an accident. I don't know how they were so fucking blind."

"Hoseok, will you remember to always call me before doing any decisions in the future? There are a lot of people who care about you so it doesn't even have to be me. Jooheon, Gingerboy, Yoonsun, just call someone and tell them how are you feeling," Hyungwon had turned it into a lecture but Hoseok didn't mind that much although it had been a bit overly in his opinion.

"I can't promise anything but I will try."

"I will stay by you then."

After that they had fallen asleep, Hyungwon's arms around Hoseok. Waking up in the morning, they were still the same.

"Are you going to school today?" Hoseok asked when Hyungwon showed some signs of waking up.

"I gotta," Hyungwon said, sounding like he was still half-asleep. "Do you have a gift for Jooheon?"

"What gift?"

"It's his birthday today."

"It is? Shit, I didn't even know," Hoseok reached for his phone to check the date. Days and weeks had been going by so fast that he found it weird it was October already. That and also he was terrible at remembering birthdays. "How did you know that?"

"I remember everyone's birthdays," Hyungwon said confidently.

"Alright, when is mine?" Hoseok smiled. There was no way Hyungwon could know that because they had never talked about it.

"March first," Hyungwon told and Hoseok's mouth opened in surprise. "Was it correct?"

"Yes! But how?" Hoseok was amazed. He didn't get any answer from Hyungwon who just pushed him up from the bed and started putting his own clothes on.

"Time to go to school."

-

After finally getting off from school, Hoseok headed to Jooheon's place. Their skate park squad's group chat had been blowing the whole day as Jooheon had tried to convince everybody to come to his house for a party. Some said that they should keep a sober weekend because the last few weekends had been pretty alcohol-filled but 'it's not everyday that your friend is turning seventeen' managed to win over the last few reluctant ones. Jooheon had promised that the party would only contain their small group so it was just a casual get together.

Hoseok honestly wasn't sure if he felt like drinking or not. In that current group of friends it had became more of a habit and he didn't complain because it was just chill hanging out. They never got so wasted that anything would happen - except that one time Gingerboy went missing but that they could blame Minhyuk of.

"You made it," Jooheon rejoiced as he opened the front door and saw Hoseok standing there.

"Did you think I would get lost in the way here?" Hoseok joked, trying to seem serious. Jooheon laughed and let him in. The music was playing loud and he could heard chatter from the living room. He walked there behind Jooheon. Hyungwon was already there, sitting on the couch, and Hoseok squeezed himself between the guy and Jen, who had came without Lee Sang this time which was weird since the couple were always together.

Jooheon brought him a cup. "I'm offering everyone's drinks since it's my birthday," he said and sat on another couch next to Nahyun.

Hoseok took a sip from the drink Jooheon gave him. He wondered what in the world had Jooheon put in it because it tasted mostly just like alcohol. He leaned closer to Hyungwon to whispered to his ear, "I forgot to get the present."

"Don't worry, I got it," Hyungwon whispered back and nodded towards the bag in between his ankles.

"Now that everyone is here, how about I open your presents," Jooheon said as if he had heard the conversation between Hyungwon and Hoseok.

"What presents?" Gingerboy scoffed. Jooheon stood up and pretended to be hitting him. Ginger covered his face with his arms. "Why would I get you a present," he laughed while trying to protect himself.

"Shut up, I know you didn't come here without one," Jooheon sat back down and left the redhead alone.

"You're right. Open mine first?" Gingerboy took a poorly-wrapped present from behind his back and gave it to Jooheon who ripped the paper off to reveal a beer pong game. He seemed happy and amused about it, swearing that they would play it right away. 

After opening all the presents, which had contained mostly different new parts to his BMX and a Thrasher T-shirt from Changkyun - which Jooheon had loved so much he had even kissed Changkyun's cheek as a thanks - Jooheon set Ginger's beer pong to a table.

"Let's decide the teams," Jooheon said and took his hand out so everybody would know what he meant with that and take out their hands too. He gave the signal and everybody turned their hands either palm facing up or down. Jooheon did it a bit slower than the rest and it just happened to get him into the same team with Nahyun. Palm facing down, those two, Kihyun, Jen and Hyunwoo, formed one team. Palm up, Hoseok, Hyungwon, Changkyun, Gingerboy, Yoonsun and Kihyun, formed another.

Jen turned out to be an ace in the game and emptied the opponent's cups before the others had managed to throw the ball in even once. Hyungwon, the supposed ace of the losing group, had to step up the game as they decided to refill the cups and continue. He managed to get the ball in to one of the cups through a bounce and Jooheon took a drink.

Hoseok was clinging onto Hyungwon's shoulders - which was a pleasant sight because he used to be against all the public display of affection. Yoonsun whispered something along with the word 'cute'.

"Does anyone have other game ideas?" Jooheon asked after Hoseok's team's cups were empty for the second time in a row - the other team still had half left.

"No one has enough motivation to play any drinking games," Kihyun said and sat back on the couch behind him. "None of us is drunk enough to do anything crazy."

"That's right," Jooheon seemed to be thinking for a while. Some others went back to the couches too. "Drink faster," he then said and put cups to Nahyun and Hyunwoo's hands. Everybody took their cups and looked at each other doubtfully, not seeming to be that willing to drown themselves in alcohol but Changkyun helped Jooheon out.

"Bottoms up in three... two... one," he said and poured the contains of the cup down his throat. Most did the same and Jooheon had to go get more alcohol to them.

"Since this is Jooheon's party, how about we all share some embarrassing stories about him," Yoonsun suggested next. Jooheon just snorted, he didn't mind at all and just liked the attention it got him.

Changkyun went first. Being Jooheon's best friend, he had a lot of stories to tell and started with something not too rough but also not too casual. He told about the time Jooheon had gotten caught jacking off to hentai in school's bathroom by a teacher after an anonymous tip. After seeing the teacher he had accidentally unplugged his headphones while trying to pull his pants up and the sounds coming from his phone had echoed in the whole bathroom.

Hoseok had to drink to take his mind away from the second-hand embarrassment. He wondered how could it get more explicit than that.

Nahyun shared some embarrassing stories too and Hoseok decided to tell about something that happened in fifth grade. Jooheon wouldn't even flinch when Hoseok told everybody how Jooheon had tried to kiss this one girl in school disco but accidentally kissed her brother instead.

"I know what you all are thinking but it was really dark and I couldn't see at all," Jooheon defended himself but still acknowledged what had happened. They couldn't find out who it was, though. Jooheon probably didn't even know himself.

"Hoseok, do you know if Minhyuk will crash here tonight?" Gingerboy asked at one point after the story-telling was over.

"I have no idea. Haven't seen him in a while," Hoseok said. After running off at the fest, he hadn't met Minhyuk even once or heard about the guy. He was glad about it because it was always so uncomfortable to hang out with him but at the same time it felt weird.

"A'ight," Gingerboy sounded a bit disappointed. Hoseok furrowed his brows at him.

"Are you looking for a fight or something?" Kihyun asked what everybody was thinking. There was no other reason Ginger would want to see Minhyuk.

"Kinda... I feel like fighting but at the same time I don't," Gingerboy sounded confused himself too and Hoseok felt bad for him for some reason.

"How drunk are you?" Changkyun laughed at the ginger who had been on the losing team in beer pong and clearly drank the most.

"I'm not even --," Ginger muttered but the rest of his sentence was unclear - which made his level of wasted pretty obvious. "Who's up for a smoke?" he then asked and stood up.

Everybody just shook their heads so he gave a questioning look to Hoseok. "Sorry Gallagher but I'm trying to quit," Hoseok said, earning almost everyone's attention with that sentence.

"I'm sorry what did you say? Because I heard you were quitting smoking," Jooheon chuckled.

"What are you quitting for?" Changkyun asked. It wasn't that they didn't support Hoseok's decision, they just found it really weird since Hoseok smoked cigarettes a lot.

"I don't have money and my dad switched to an electronic one so I can't steal from him anymore," Hoseok explained, kind of hoping he would have had some cooler reason behind his decision than the lack of money. "I can still come with you if no one else is gonna," he then said and was about to stand up to accompany Gingerboy but Hyungwon wrapped arms around him to prevent him from going.

"You have barely been without smoking for a day so don't even think about it," he said and Hoseok pouted. His addiction was giving him a hard time and he probably would have ended up smoking if he had went outside with Ginger even if he thought he could have fought it.

Gingerboy looked sad and it might have been either because of Hyungwon having his arms around Hoseok, embracing him - they were acting all cute, looking at each other in the eyes once in a while and making expressions or whispering something while connecting fingers - or then just because no one wanted to go out with him.

"Alright, I'll come with you," Changkyun said and went outside with Gingerboy.

Since everybody knew about the relationship between the two guys already and Hoseok was drunk enough to not care either way, he was purposefully snuggling real close to Hyungwon to the point where others got annoyed about them only paying attention to each other. Not even Jooheon and Nahyun, the other official couple in their group, were that clingy. All the girls thought it was cute but when Hoseok turned his head against the crook of Hyungwon's neck and stayed there, his lips touching the skin, Kihyun wanted to tell them to get a room.

Hyungwon felt a bit flustered himself too and wished that Hoseok would sober up a bit but the guy was so flabby and seemed like he would pass out any minute. "He didn't even drink that much," Hyungwon sighed at some point.

Jooheon and Nahyun started dancing on the living room table. It luckily wasn't that high so it wouldn't be that bad if they fell off. Yoonsun tried to get up to go refill her cup but couldn't stay on her feet and fell on top of Kihyun in a way that didn't seem all that accidental. They stared at each other for a while before Kihyun raised his head up a bit, just enough to meet Yoonsun's lips. The girl froze for a moment before starting to kiss back.

"Jooheon, why did you make your drinks so strong?" Changkyun asked, looking at his cup that still had something in it. "Can you see what's going on in here?"

"It's because there is so many couples with unsolved tension between them in our group. I'm just trying to give a little kick to them," Jooheon explained. He seemed proud about what he had caused and thought that the reason behind getting all of his friends wasted was pretty good. He gave thumbs up to Kihyun and Yoonsun making out in the corner of the couch.

Hyunwoo was sitting in the corner if that same couch, seeming bored out of his mind. Gingerboy came to sit next to him and glanced at him quickly before attacking his lips, having a little trouble locating them at first. Hyunwoo didn't hesitate to kiss him back and just pulled him closer.

"This is not fair," Changkyun continued complaining. Then he noticed Jen sitting next to him. The two of them were the only ones not getting any action in there.

"Don't even think about it," she said strictly and pushed Changkyun a bit away from her.


	35. Chapter 35

You could say things were a bit weird when people woke up in the morning. Jooheon and Nahyun were sleeping in his bed peacefully, being the only ones to whom the last night's partying hadn't affected at all. They were used to doing things like that. They were dating for the second time after all.

From the others sleeping in the living room couches and the mattresses Jooheon had set for then, Hoseok was the first one to wake up. He was sleeping on the couch with Hyungwon, facing the older guy whose arms were around him. He raised his head from Hyungwon's chest to look around and figure what happenings had led him in that place but couldn't do that before he had to run to the bathroom to be sick.

He sat in front of the toilet for a while and then stood up to wash his face with cold water. That was probably the worst hangover he had had from the few ones he had experienced by far. Somehow he always seemed to be the most hungover and having drunk the most when he had been at Jooheon's.

Someone came to stand on the doorway behind him and Hoseok lifted his head up to see who it was through the mirror. Hyungwon gave him a sympathetic smile when they saw each other.

"Here," he said and gave Hoseok a glass of water. The younger drank it without saying anything. He tried thinking about what had happened on the night before again but his mind seemed to be blank.

"Why I can't remember what happened last night?" he asked. Hyungwon smiled and looked down which made Hoseok worry about the answer to his question.

"You got pretty drunk," Hyungwon told and looked back up to Hoseok. "I think it was because your stomach was empty. I should have realized and got you some food."

"I got drunk and you're blaming yourself for it?" Hoseok laughed and Hyungwon then realized how he had sounded. Hoseok walked out of the bathroom back to the living room.

Changkyun was sleeping alone on the other couch - Lee Sang had came to pick up Jen in the middle of the night but no one had stayed awake for long after that anyways. Gingerboy and Hyunwoo slept right next to each other, both laying on their backs. Yoonsun and Kihyun were facing each other, their noses almost touching. Hoseok looked at them and his mind was slowly coming back.

"Oh shit," he let out and turned to face Hyungwon behind him. "Why was I like that," he groaned and stared to feel so embarrassed.

"Like what?" Hyungwon was either running slow or just acting like he didn't know. Hoseok ran a hand through his own hair.

"I was so clingy last night. And everybody saw," he stressed, wondering how was Hyungwon so calm.

"Don't worry you were cute," Hyungwon said smiling and ruffled Hoseok's hair. "I think others have too much to worry about what they did themselves."

"Oh right," Hoseok glanced at the others sleeping again. "They kissed, didn't they?"

Hyungwon nodded. Yoonsun showed some signs of being alive. She jumped up when opening her eyes and seeing Kihyun right next to her. A silent 'fuck' was heard from her mouth. Hyungwon held Hoseok's hand and walked his boyfriend back to the couch to sit there. Hyungwon took out his phone.

"Do you want pizza?" he asked from Hoseok who just answered that he didn't feel like eating anything at that moment. "You gotta eat, you haven't eaten anything since school lunch yesterday."

"Fine, ramen?"

Hyungwon ordered noodles for all nine of them. Half an hour later everybody downstairs had woke up and were eating without talking to each other. Hyungwon was snatching all the pickled radishes and giving them to Hoseok who kept smiling and glancing at Hyungwon from the corner of his eye.

Kihyun and Yoonsun were sitting on opposite sides of the table, not really looking up to each other at any point. Gingerboy sat on the corner of a couch with Hyunwoo in the other end. He was clearly avoiding having any contact with the guy while in the other hand Hyungwon seemed to be sad about the whole situation. Jooheon and Nahyun finally showed up, most likely being drawn by the delicious smell of ramen. Upon seeing the birthday boy, Gingerboy slowly set his bowl down.

"Yo, what's with the atmosphere in here?" Jooheon asked carefully and walked over to take his and Nahyun's unopened bowls of noodles from the table.

"You really fucked us up," Gingerboy started with angry yet not any louder than normal voice. Jooheon froze on the spot and suspiciously eyed around the people in the room.

"What do you mean I fucked you up?" he asked, seeming like he was actually for real with that question.

"You made us drink stronger drinks than we thought just so we would get wasted and do stupid things," Ginger stood up and crossed his arms above his chest.

"I just provided you free booze. You're the one who drank so much!" Jooheon was getting mad for being accused although it was for a reason. He still thought his cause had been good but it felt like his plan had backfired.

"That's because you told us that it's very mild and only tastes strong for no reason!" Gingerboy yelled. Everybody in the room thought he was overreacting a bit but that he still had a point. "I should be able to keep my drinking in control!"

"Should we leave before this gets dirty?" Hyungwon whispered to Hoseok who answered with only a nod because his mouth was busy slurping the noodles. They got up, trying to not attract much attention and tip-toed behind Jooheon towards the front door.

"Dude. Take a pill," Jooheon said, trying to get Gingerboy to calm down before he would get a smack right in his face.

"Stop getting on my nerves so bad," Ginger finished and brushed past Hoseok to walk out.

"He got a point though," Kihyun said silently.

"You are the ones who spent the night kissing each others! Why are you acting like I'm responsible for it!" Jooheon yelled loud and quick so Gingerboy would hear it too before slamming the door shut behind him.

Hyungwon and Hoseok walked along the street towards the skate park, holding hands. Ginger, who had gone to the direction of his own house with a fast pace, was already long gone.

"Do you think that was right to accuse Jooheon?" Hoseok asked, looking down at their connected fingers.

"Jooheon did nothing wrong. I think Gingerboy was just flipping because he thinks it was a big deal to drunk-kiss someone," Hyungwon said and Hoseok immediately agreed with him although at first he had been on Ginger's side.

"So it's not a big deal?" Hoseok continued asking questions. He thought it was pretty serious to kiss someone, sober or not.

"Everybody does that when drunk sometimes. You kissed me a lot last night too."

"But it's different since we're like..." Hoseok wasn't sure what word he would use.

"Dating?" Hyungwon completed the sentence for him. "You can just say it like that. We're dating."

"What does that mean?" Hoseok asked although it made him sound like he was dumb. Hyungwon made them stop walking and turned to face Hoseok.

"What do you think it means?"

Hoseok didn't know what to answer so he continued walking. Hyungwon caught up with him and gave a kiss to his cheek before going on walking next to him.

"This is what it means," Hyungwon answered his own question and held Hoseok's hand again. Hoseok smiled and looked down again.

"Care to show me more?" Hoseok suggested with an innocent smile. Hyungwon saw it and scoffed.

"Later. When we get home," Hyungwon promised and Hoseok smiled wide. Hyungwon was happy to see him that excited.

They arrived to the park where only Hyunwoo's brother Hyungsoo and little Chan were yet. Hoseok ran a few steps and stepped on top of his skateboard. Hyungwon, who didn't have his own skateboard with him, went to sit on top of a ramp. Hoseok got Hyunwoo staring at him and following him around a lot but he tried to not care about it.

"Are you really going to spend the whole day here?" Hyungwon asked when Hoseok had been skating around a while already and he was getting bored just sitting there and watching.

"I think I am," Hoseok said without giving much thought to it.

"It's going to rain soon," Hyungwon came up with a lie, hoping that it actually would rain so he wouldn't seem so desperate.

"I like rain," Hoseok shrugged and skated to the other direction again.

"I just want to have a date with you why are you so stubborn," Hyungwon groaned and Hoseok heard Chan gasp.

"You're dating Hyungwon!" Hyungsoo yelped, almost falling with his kick scooter. Hoseok quickly turned his head back to see the kid stumbling. "How can you date a guy."

"Just like you can date a girl," Hoseok simply said, not getting any deeper into explaining how some people were gay and they shouldn't be seen as any more abnormal than others - Hyungsoo will be so shook when his brother comes out of the closet. Hoseok turned back to Hyungwon's direction and asked what kind of date he was planning.

"We could order fried chicken and go to my house to play FIFA," Hyungwon suggested and Hoseok gave him a look. Hyungwon had weird idea of a date.

"Just one hour, then we can go."

-

Hyunwoo had gathered his courage once again and headed towards Gingerboy's house. He needed to have a talk with Ginger and he knew that the younger one would try to avoid him for a while. Their friendship was at stake. Hyunwoo would have said relationship but there was nothing like that. It was clear that the redhead had feelings for him but if he was too scared to ever admit them, Hyunwoo would have settled down with just friendship.

Just as he arrived in front of the house, he noticed Gingerboy running out of the front door, glancing behind him as if he was being followed and not even noticing Hyunwoo before running into him. Hyunwoo caught him by his arms and prevented him from falling down.

"Oh shit," Gingerboy let out upon realizing Hyunwoo was there.

"What are you running from?" Hyunwoo asked while Gingerboy was trying to catch his breath. He yanked his arms away from the older and started walking away along the street.

"Why would I be runnin' from a thing?" he said bluntly. Hyunwoo walked next to him, not even needing to have any answer to his question. He knew that Gingerboy was most likely running away from a beating he was about to get from his foster dad for some useless reason, for example coming home.

"Let's have a talk," Hyunwoo said, stopping on his tracks and waiting for Ginger to do so too.

"We're talking," Gingerboy sighed, sounding like he didn't care at all. He didn't want to talk with Hyunwoo.

"Come with me," Hyunwoo said and grabbed Gingerboy's arm, starting to pull him along with him across the street. He usually let Ginger always be the one to decide about everything and make him change his mind in every situation but right now, being firm was the only way he could have this talk with Gingerboy.

They came to a playground and Hyunwoo led them to sit on the two swings. Gingerboy seemed confused and annoyed at the same time but he just sat there without saying anything, knowing that he couldn't really run from the situation anymore.

Hyunwoo let out a deep sigh before he began talking. "I regret what happened last night too."

Gingerboy looked at him. That was not the way he thought this conversation was about to go.

"However, if you like me back, you should just say it to me so we could talk about it. You avoiding me is not going to get us anywhere," he then continued with a calm voice. Gingerboy was staring at the ground and drawing to the sand with his feet.

"Who says I like you," Gingerboy snapped, not sounding as angry as usual.

"Do you?"

"What's it to you?"

"I just think that it would be fair, since I already told you I like you, that you would also tell me how you feel about me," Hyunwoo was leaning his head on the chain of the swing and fixedly looking at Gingerboy who wasn't answering. "And it feels wrong that you can confess your feelings to Hoseok but not to me."

Ginger continued moving his feet in the sand without saying anything.

"Are you going to keep quiet? We're not leaving here before you answer me," Hyunwoo was sounding more determined by now.

"It's different, okay," Gingerboy started and raised his head from the ground, though not looking at Hyunwoo. "In Hoseok's case, I just liked him a little and I wanted to see what would happen if I told it to him. I knew he wouldn't like me anyways. With you it's something way bigger."

"Bigger? What, love?" Hyunwoo questioned, not even considering that his guess might be right.

"If I only liked you and you liked me too, it could work. The problem is that I don't just like you, I love you and you could never l-love me," saying that, Gingerboy didn't sound angry anymore, he sounded sad. The vocabulary that was unusual for him made him sound awkward too.

"I really don't understand your logic. I do love you," Hyunwoo found himself stuttering a bit due to his confusion.

"No you don't," Ginger shook his head.

"How can you say if I love you or not?"

"Because no one can ever love me," Gingerboy looked at Hyunwoo with emotionless eyes. There was a short silence because Hyunwoo was taken aback by that sentence. Then Ginger proceeded to explain himself. "My real parents never loved me so they threw me away. None of the foster families I have been in has loved me, this one the least. There must be something wrong with me since no one has ever loved me."

"There is nothing wrong with you. You're actually really lovable and I assure you I'm not the only one who loves you," Hyunwoo spoke soothingly and wouldn't stop the eye connection he had with Ginger.

"You're lyin'," Gingerboy stood up and started to walk away.

"Heejun!" Hyunwoo called and the redhead stopped after hearing his real name - the use of it had much affect on him because the only people using it were his parents and now Hyunwoo. "You're not leaving until you believe me."

"Believe what?"

Hyunwoo gestured for the younger to sit back down. Gingerboy went back to the swing and leaned on the chain that was further from the person next to him.

"It's not your fault that you had a rough childhood that made you feel unloved and gave you such an expression of yourself," Hyunwoo started once again with that same, calm voice. "Let me show you that what you think of love is false."

"I don't need it," Gingerboy looked away.

"Stop arguing with me and come to your senses," Hyunwoo raised his voice and it made Ginger to look at him. "I love you, Oh Heejun."

"I love you too," Gingerboy muttered, finally giving in his grudging act. Hyunwoo stood up and spread his arms open, gesturing the younger to stand up too. Ginger got himself up from the swing. Hyunwoo wrapped his arms around the much shorter boy.

"Cheer up. Let's go to the park," Hyunwoo let go of him and encouraged him with a smile because the deep conversation had made him seem to be a bit down.

Gingerboy smiled as well and they started walking away from the playground. Hyunwoo reached out his hand to hold Gingerboy's but the little one yanked his arm away and let out a  _'what the-'_.

"Shut up," Hyunwoo hissed and took Ginger's hand again.


	36. Chapter 36

After the hour Hoseok promised to Hyungwon was over, the older immediately started to remind Hoseok that they were supposed to leave. Hoseok cooperated without complaining about staying at the park for any longer. As they were about to go, they saw Hyunwoo and Gingerboy coming from the other direction. The two of them looked like they were in good terms again and seemed to be talking and joking around with each other really casually.

"Hi!" Hoseok shouted and waved at them to catch their attention. Hyunwoo waved back when in the other hand Gingerboy seemed a bit like he wished Hoseok wouldn't have been there.

"Are you just leaving?" Hyunwoo asked when they got to where Hoseok was. He was smiling really brightly.

"Yeah, Hyungwon wants to go," Hoseok said and Hyungwon raised his brows after getting blamed for their leave. "Looks like you two made up."

"This little one just needed some persuading," Hyunwoo smiled, put his arm behind the smaller guy's neck and pulled him closer to press a kiss on his temple. Gingerboy immediately fought himself free and took a few steps back to dropkick Hyunwoo. The older skillfully dodged it. Hoseok covered his smiling mouth with his fist and eyed Hyungwon to see if he was as surprised.

"What the fuck, Hyunwoo!" Ginger yelled but the other guy just laughed, making the redhead seem even more annoyed.

"We never talked about keeping it a secret," Hyunwoo remarked.

"Ah, I can't even get mad," Gingerboy pouted and continued walking. Hyunwoo gave confused-looking Hoseok a smile and then followed the other.

"Woah, I'm amazed," Hoseok said to Hyungwon who nodded while looking where the two guys were going. "They finally revealed their feelings." Hoseok felt joyful because this was the first time he had witnessed the chemistry between two of his friends and hoped that they would get together and to see it actually happen.

Hoseok and Hyungwon continued their walk away from the park. Hyungwon held his hand and interlocked their fingers, making Hoseok's smile grow wider.

"So, what do you want to eat?" Hyungwon asked, since a part of their date was supposed to be food.

"We just ate ramen like... an hour ago or something," Hoseok scoffed and Hyungwon looked somewhat disappointed.

"You're not hungry?"

"Uhm... Yeah, I'm not," Hoseok chuckled and looked at Hyungwon slightly.

"Then let's have something else," Hyungwon said and they stopped by at a store.

He picked a basket and told Hoseok to put in whatever he wanted. Hoseok seemed happy about it and soon the bottom was already filled with snacks and drinks. Hyungwon stared at it frozen.

"You told me you were not hungry," he was amazed by the amount of things Hoseok was suddenly craving for.

"Dessert goes to a different stomach," Hoseok said, putting a bucket of ice cream into the basket Hyungwon was carrying.

"You're amazing," Hyungwon let out, staring at Hoseok with a love-filled gaze, stars in his eyes and the corners of his lips turning upwards. Hoseok couldn't notice it, thought, having all his attention in deciding what else he wanted to get.

"Do you want something?" Hoseok suddenly asked, waking Hyungwon up from the trance-like state he was in.

"No," Hyungwon shook his head and looked down to see what was in the basket now. "Are you done?"

"I think so," Hoseok looked around to see if there was anything else he wanted. Then he saw how he had filled the basket with so much stuff and began to feel some guilt since it was Hyungwon's credit card that would be used to pay for all that.

They went to the register to pay and the girl there, who was supposedly new because she kept having some troubles with the device, kept glancing at Hyungwon and getting her cheeks more and more red. Hoseok felt jealous and stared at Hyungwon as well, trying to figure out if the guy was noticing what was happening.

He saw the girl writing something - obviously her phone number - on the receipt and when Hyungwon's hand extended forward to the receipt, Hoseok had trouble keeping himself from stopping that hand.

Instead of taking the receipt from the girl's hand, Hyungwon pushed the hand away with a polite smile and said, "Sorry, I have someone else."

While saying that, Hoseok felt a hand coming around his waist and pulling him closer. The girl's eyes immediately went there and her jaw dropped, her whole expression changing to disappointment. She threw the receipt away.

"So weird," Hoseok could heard her mutter under her breath while Hyungwon grabbed their groceries and pulled Hoseok out with him. They continued walking towards Hyungwon's home when the older noticed that Hoseok seemed to be a bit out of it.

"What happened?" he immediately asked and stopped them from walking.

"Did she just call us weird?" Hoseok questioned and Hyungwon let out a sigh. He didn't want to get deep into explaining how there would be people calling them weird or gross every time they were together in public. He knew Hoseok was the type to take it personally and he wished that Hoseok wouldn't actually think of himself like that. He was too young and pure for that.

"She was probably talking about the amount of snacks we bought," Hyungwon quickly came up with an explanation and smiled. Hoseok didn't say anything and just looked ahead as they continued walking. Hyungwon realized that Hoseok wasn't young and stupid enough to buy his lie.

"Do you get called that a lot?" Hoseok asked next.

"Of course not. That girl was just weird," Hyungwon said even though the truth was that this was the first time he got called like that as well. It was the first time he had an actual boyfriend and appeared in public like that.

Hoseok was quiet and Hyungwon didn't like it. He almost wanted to turn back and go say a few heavy words to that girl for making Hoseok upset.

-

Hours later, they were in Hyungwon's room and playing their regular game, FIFA, with the huge amount of snacks, drinks and sweets on the table in front of them. Hoseok great multitasking skills - eating and playing at the same time - led to him being winning most of the games. 

It was not all eating and games, their date night, but sometimes they spent time making out in between the games or when Hyungwon was about to catch up the score, Hoseok would just start to kiss him, distracting him from the game for a while. Hyungwon didn't complain, he wasn't as competitive as Hoseok. Also he really enjoyed it a lot when Hoseok did that.

Sometimes they got a bit carried away and it led to one of them being pressed against the couch or squished between the other's legs as the other sat on top of him.

In the middle of one game, Hoseok's phone rang but he didn't show any intention on answering.

"Are you not going to pick up?" Hyungwon asked after the phone had been ringing for a while. He wished that Hoseok would answer the phone so it would get him distracted and change the flow of the game so Hyungwon could score a few times and catch up. Hoseok just shook his head. Hyungwon glanced at the phone on the table when it stopped ringing.

Hoseok swallowed but kept his eyes in the game. "It's probably my mother calling to ask if I'm not gonna come home tonight either."

"So are you not?" Hyungwon asked and when Hoseok shortly turned to give him a serious expression, Hyungwon managed to snatch the ball from him in the game.

"We will have more fun here than in my place," Hoseok simply said and turned his head a bit again to see if that had caused Hyungwon to smirk - and it had. As he looked back to the screen, Hyungwon just scored for the first time in the whole game.

"I'm not quite sure what kind of fun you're looking for," Hyungwon smiled smugly as he had finally managed to score.

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean," Hoseok put a big spoonful of ice cream in his mouth before the game continued. "We couldn't play FIFA like this in my place."

Hyungwon snorted and glanced back at Hoseok's phone when he heard several notifications and saw messages coming to the screen. His fingers stopped moving on the controller for a moment which caused Hoseok to be able to score easily again.

"I really think you should check your phone, Hoseok," he said and paused the game. Hoseok sighed and kept staring at the screen.

"I don't want them to think that I care," he bluntly said. Hyungwon reached to take the phone from the table as Hoseok continued to act persistent.

"I'll read it to you," Hyungwon started and even though he wanted to keep in acting like he didn't give a shit, Hoseok had to listen. "I know you're busy getting 'hot and heavy' with Hyungwon but stop fucking ignoring me. You need to come to the park ASAP. And then there is like ten exclamation marks. And some emojis, I don't know but seems like it's urgent."

"What?" Hoseok stuttered, the first few words having already caught his full attention.

"From Jooheon," Hyungwon clarified, making Hoseok feel even more embarrassed for acting the way he had.

"We gotta go," Hoseok's attitude suddenly changed, he threw his controller down and got up. "Come on," he signaled for Hyungwon to get up too.

"What happened to having fun with just the two of us," Hyungwon muttered under his breath, not knowing if Hoseok heard it or not.

"Should I take the skateboard? Probably won't need it... Let's just walk there quickly," Hoseok was talking to himself while getting ready and waiting for Hyungwon to come with him.

"Calm down for a sec," Hyungwon said from behind him, softly placing his hands on Hoseok's hips as he waited for the younger to open the door. "Knowing Jooheon, it's most likely something really useless."

"What if he killed someone?" Hoseok asked when they were already going away from the house and turned to walk backwards and face Hyungwon, who laughed at the sudden question.

"I hope that's not the case," he wrapped his arm around Hoseok's shoulder, making him turn back to walk the normal way.

A short walk later, they came to the park where the whole crew was already. Everyone from their usual group had gathered there, not feeling so pleasant about it, judging by his facial expression. There were also three older and tougher looking guys whose names Hoseok didn't know and Gunhee. The presence of the last guy explained why Jen wasn't there, only Lee Sang who wouldn't stop glaring at Gunhee.

"Finally you're here," Jooheon said and stepped a bit forward to greet Hoseok. Before Hoseok could ask what was so urgent, Jooheon continued, "Gunhee needs help in a fight so we need every loyal man we can get."

"Why the hell would we help him," Hoseok asked, earning a glare from Gunhee who apparently heard that since Hoseok hadn't really bothered lowering his voice. Jooheon pushed both him and Hyungwon further to talk to them in private.

"Look, we don't really like him either but he is still a friend. Or... sort of," Jooheon talked in a low voice so the others - or specifically Gunhee - wouldn't hear that. "Besides, it might come back to us if we don't help him out with this one."

"He's right," Hyungwon commented. Hoseok looked at him with his eyebrows raised up. "Don't think about it so deep and let's just do this one thing."

"Great, they're in," Jooheon announced as he turned back to the others and walked to sit next to Changkyun. Gunhee looked relived, though anguished. Hoseok and Hyungwon went to sit with the others and the latter took his phone out.

"I'm calling Yongguk to drag his ass here too," he said and lifted the phone to his ear.

After his quick phone call, it was quiet. No one was feeling like talkative, there were only some occasional, quiet conversations with some people every now and then. The atmosphere was not good. Not even Gingerboy, who usually looked forward to all kinds of fighting, seemed to be excited.

"Can any of us actually fight?" Changkyun asked at some point, breaking the silence. Other people shook their heads but the three guys sitting next to Gunhee didn't react in any way. Hoseok felt almost sure that they could fight. They looked like that kind of guys and Hoseok wondered why did Gunhee not have more friends like that. They would be useful in situations like this.

"Ginger can fight when he gets mad enough," Jooheon commented but the redhead just rapidly shook his head, looking at Jooheon with wide eyes. "What? You fight well."

"Pfft... We're so screwed," Changkyun sighed, not being the only one who doubted this mission.

"I don't know what kind of gang Gunhee has gotten mad but there is a chance that they can't fight either," Kihyun tried to be positive but no one else thought like he did. Yoonsun, sitting on the opposite side of the crowd from him, rolled her eyes. It seemed like instead of resolving what was going on between them, they had fought.

"I think there is a higher chance that they are two times older and bigger than us with fighting experience and jail time with them," she scoffed and her eyes met with Kihyun's for a moment.

Yongguk arrived to the park, his friend Youjin with him. He didn't say anything and just glared at Gunhee - whose expression looked mostly pitiable - before stopping next to Hyungwon. He didn't seem that pleased to be there either and same was with Youjin. Hoseok and Hyungwon neither knew what his relationship was with Yongguk or Gunhee but it was great that he was there to help.

"Where are the supposed thugs that should be after you? It's getting late," Jooheon said, looking around to see if anyone was coming but there was no movement in any direction. It was already pretty dark outside and the park, luckily in case of a gang fight, was in a more outlying location.

"If they don't show up here today, I might have to change my name and move to the countryside," Gunhee sounded so serious that no one knew if he was joking or not.

Right after he had said that, a bus drove past the park and when it came to a halt at a stop further from the park, they could see a group of guys exiting. Real thugs ride the bus, Hoseok thought and tried to think of their opponents as a joke but his heartbeat kept raising up.

As the group walked towards them, Gunhee stood up and went in front of everyone and the three big friends of his lined up on both sides of him. The rest of them did the same.

Hoseok eyed all of the other guys. There were one less than them, which might or might not give them any advantage in the fight. He could immediately notice, which one of them was the leader, just like Gunhee in their case. The leader had an angry expression on his face, that was already covered in few scars and bruises as a sign that fighting was more of an everyday-thing for him. He looked seriously scary. Two guys on the both sides of him looked buff like bodyguards. Hoseok would have guessed them to be the same age with Gunhee, eighteen to twenty years.

There were also few younger looking ones, but regardless of being young or small, they still looked scary to Hoseok. He knew they were doomed and wondered if anyone else was freaking out as much as he was.

"Pick someone weak-looking and be careful. I don't want you getting hurt," Hyungwon leaned lower to whisper to him. Hoseok just nodded quickly as if he had lost his ability to speak. "I will look over you and make sure no one gets you."

"Have you done this before?" Hoseok asked, keeping his eyes on the group in front of them. Hyungwon seemed so calm.

"Not exactly," he let out a deep breath, revealing that he was a bit nervous as well. Hoseok looked up to him for a moment. They didn't have time to talk any longer when the leader of the other group stepped forward and swung his fist to Gunhee's face and the fight began.


	37. Chapter 37

Before Hoseok could do anything, someone already jumped him, causing him to fall back to the ground. He received a few punches on his face before he was able to push the guy off and get back on his feet. He was doing better than he thought he would.

Hoseok, not a violent person by nature, found a fighter from inside of him and wasn't even holding back while fighting to protect himself. He managed to get a few good hits  against the guy that was shorter than him, yet looked a year or two older.

Everything was sort of a blur. Hoseok couldn't really feel anything or put his mind into what he was doing. It was just his instincts, half of which had been picked up from action films, moving his body. Sometimes the impact of a punch or a kick sent him to the ground and then sometimes he clenched his jaw together, gathered all his strength and let it unload against the guy he was fighting. Besides not really realizing what he was doing, he also had no idea what was happening around him.

The man himself, Gunhee, was outnumbered against the mighty leader of the gang of thugs. Without this group that got his back even though they despised it, he would have been planning for his own funeral already at that point. He was receiving punches here and there, not seeming to have any chance of getting back on his feet and fighting back but luckily one of his big pals got his back and made it two-on-one.

Jooheon either had an easy opponent or then he was just stronger than they had thought before. Sooner than almost anyone else, he had defeated his guy, who was now on the ground groaning because due to Jooheon's strong kick to his stomach, all the air had escaped from his lungs.

Before the guy could get up and continue the fight, Jooheon ran over to his struggling best friend, Changkyun, to help out. Changkyun was thankful, the situation for himself had seemed desperate as he didn't have that inner violent self in him and was being way too careful. It all seemed great until Jooheon's previous guy got back on his feet and attacked him from behind, pulling him away from Changkyun and the other, straight to the ground.

Apart from the others, Lee Sang had been pinned against the side of a ramp. After getting hit to both sides of his face, he dodged the next punch, causing the guy to hit a wall, judging by the reaction break some knuckles, and giving Lee Sang a chance to first headbutt him and then proceeding by kicking him away.

Hyunwoo was honestly just trying to avoid getting hit. He didn't want to use his fists so the best he could do was to try to run away. It wasn't all useless because by running in a circle, he was making the other guy in the middle dizzy. Good thing was that the others were too busy by themselves to notice how foolish looked, running back and forth. He couldn't keep that up for long before the guy got annoyed and made him fall to the ground.

The only woman in the whole group, Yoonsun, had started off well but after using all of her energy in the beginning, ended up struggling a lot. Her size was advantageous in some points when she could move quicker and smoother than the bigger guy but then again, she didn't have much power and ended up getting knocked out after getting hit to her face. The impact sent her to the ground, her head spun and then it became dark.

"Sun!" Kihyun yelled as soon as he noticed that and fought himself free from the guy he was up against. Yongguk noticed the situation and took that guy before he could go after Kihyun.

Kihyun ran to the girl and knelt down next to her, his a bit shaky hands quickly brushing against her body to see if she was fine. Before he could even call out her name again, he was lifted by his collar and faced the guy that had hit Yoonsun. He swung his fist as hard as he could and yelled, "That's my girl you fucking bastard."

After hearing Kihyun yell, Gingerboy looked over his shoulder to see what was going on. He didn't have time to get a full picture of how everyone was doing because he had to concentrate on his own opponent. It had taken him some time to really wake up and in the beginning, he had been to slow, getting hit well a couple of times before getting his groove on and starting to reveal what the years of fighting everyone that annoyed him even a slightest bit had taught him. Some time later he saw how Hyunwoo was struggling and rushed over to help. 

Hoseok had been pushed further away from the others to where there was grass on the ground. He was on the ground and the other guy was on top of him, making sure that he stayed down. At that point, Hoseok was a little low on energy, as well as most of them, and didn't had it in him to fight back anymore.

Hyungwon, who had kept an eye on Hoseok for the whole time, obviously noticed it and fought faster against his guy so he could go and help Hoseok. With his knee, he kicked the guy who then fell to the ground on his butt and to end it, he kicked again.

Just as he was turning to run to Hoseok, he saw the guy on top of Hoseok taking something out from the back of his jeans. It was a switch. Switchblade, knife, Hyungwon knew it when the blade came out with a snap.

He couldn't run towards Hoseok for any more than a few steps when the guy struck the blade down somewhere around Hoseok's stomach and everything seemed to stop for Hyungwon and the only thing he could notice was the panicky yell from Hoseok's mouth.

"Why the fuck would you bring a weapon!" the boss was the first one to stop fighting and yell to the guy who was quickly getting off from on top of Hoseok. "Everybody fucking run!" he continued and the guy who had stabbed Hoseok was already going away fast.

"Where did he even get a switch," someone else yelled while running away with everyone else. Some people were confused of what was going on, Hyungwon was running to Hoseok again and dropped to the ground on all fours next to his boyfriend.

"Hoseok, are you okay? Hoseok," Hyungwon repeated quickly and examined Hoseok's body from the blade that was on the other side of him to his face that had blood, bruises and dirt from the fighting. His eyes were squeezed close and he was breathing fast, the blade flashing in front of his eyes having scared him to make his heart beat rapidly too.

Hyungwon's heart had never been jumping like that and he had never been so terrified. Never. Not even that time at the bus stop because back then, he could have just easily held Hoseok to stop him from jumping in front of a car but now, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't go back in time and make the fight not happen.

The others were starting to gather around Hoseok as well, some of them yelling his name too, frightened. Hoseok opened his eyes to look where the knife was as his shaky hand started to move towards the handle of the blade. He wrapped his fingers around it and just pulled it out.

Hyungwon's eyes were glued to the blade that shone when a light hit the clean metal surface. Instead of being covered in blood, the blade was clean and only the tip had some soil in it. He leaner over Hoseok to see a hole where the knife had penetrated the baggy hoodie from next to his side and pinned him to the ground.

Hyungwon let out a relieved sigh and let his head drop low between his arms that were supporting his body. Hoseok sat up and looked around at everyone staring at him.

"You good man?" Gingerboy asked carefully but Hoseok ignored him to look at Hyungwon. He noticed a few tears dropping from Hyungwon's eyes and immediately wrapped his arms around Hyungwon, the older burying his face against Hoseok's shoulder and stopped leaning on the ground to put his arms around Hoseok as well.

"Why are you crying?" Hoseok asked with a little laugh. Hyungwon didn't say anything but let out a laugh himself too. Everyone was looking at them except Yoonsun and Kihyun, who were sitting on the ground apart from the others, having a deep conversation.

A familiar motorcycle came to the park and Lee Sang started walking there. The driver got off, dropped her helmet to the ground and started running towards the guy. When they met each other, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around Lee Sang's body, the not-so-heavy guy managing her weight perfectly without even stumbling. She held his face to kiss him and Gunhee had a bitter, jealous look in his eyes watching the two. He seemed rather accepting than furious, though, maybe he was finally growing up and starting to realize the fact that Jen would never be in any terms with him again.

"Sorry to put it like this but it's great that you got stabbed. We would have never won that fight otherwise," Jooheon said and earned a glare from Gingerboy.

"That's not funny. What if it had actually hit him," Changkyun said, sounding way too serious considering that Jooheon was just being Jooheon and joking around.

"I don't think you would be joking if it was you who got stabbed," Hyunwoo said next and Jooheon suddenly felt embarrassed of what he had said.

"Guys, I'm fine. He got a point. We would all be dead if this hadn't happened," Hoseok stood up for him. He pulled away from Hyungwon who had already calmed down. He held his hand and got on his feet, helping Hyungwon to stand up too.

"Actually, nothing would have ever happened without him," said Lee Sang, who had came back to the others, holding Jen now close by his side. He was glaring at Gunhee who seemed to be avoiding to look at his direction.

"To be honest, it's not entirely his fault because I'm the one who thought we could ask you to help," Changkyun confessed but everyone acted like they didn't even hear it. Gunhee they could hate but no one wanted to be mad at Changkyun who was just trying to help.

"I should get going," Gunhee scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Can I have a word with you first?" he turned to Yongguk standing next to Hyungwon and with Youjin on his other side. Yongguk was about to step forward and walk somewhere with Gunhee but Youjin held his sleeve and shook his head to prevent him from going.

"Sorry. Getting my face fucked up will be the last thing I did for you," Yongguk then said to Gunhee, referring to the few signs of fighting on his face. "Try to remember that we are not friends anymore and we will never be."

"Alright then," Gunhee sounded a bit sad and it was no wonder since everyone was basically throwing shit at him. His three friends had already walked away and they were probably waiting for Gunhee somewhere else.

"Fuck you, Gunhee. I just always wanted to say that," Yoonsun, who had just came with Kihyun to where the others were, said.

"Me too. Fuck you. I think that's on behalf of all of us," Jooheon said next and the only thing he received was a nod from Gunhee.

"I'll owe to all of you after this," Gunhee started to slowly walk away backwards and eyed each one of the group.

"Don't think that you owe me anything because I don't want you anywhere near me," Jen said strictly.

"I get it," Gunhee sounded so humble that it was hard to believe it was actually him. Everyone watched him walk away and when he was gone, some of them let out long sighs as if they had been holding their breaths.

Hoseok went back to lay on the ground at the same spot he had been previously. Hyungwon came next to him, doing the same thing. The others sat or laid down too.

"I'm gonna go and take Yoonsun to the hospital," Kihyun announced. Hoseok lifted his head from the ground to look at them.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Hyunwoo asked, scanning Yoonsun from head to toe. She seemed to be a bit out of it and must have been in pain too since she got hit pretty hard. It would be a relief if they got off with only a concussion.

"I'm sorry," Changkyun said, looking down and picking the grass on the ground. He sounded very apologetic.

"It's not your fault," Kihyun said and started walking away with Yoosun, holding the girl by her waist.

Hoseok laid his head back down and it landed on top of Hyungwon's arm he had extended to act out as Hoseok's pillow. Hoseok smiled and stared at the sky above them. It was quiet. Jooheon and Changkyun were conversing silently with each other and the rest just enjoyed the fact that they were alive.

Hoseok sensed the smoke of cigarettes with a slight touch of refreshing menthol coming up to his nose. He lifted his head a bit to see a puff of smoke coming from Gingerboy's mouth.

"Can you give me?" he asked, ready to risk the few days' work he had already made to quit smoking because he felt like he could have really used a smoke in that situation.

"You were quitting," Hyungwon said and wrapped the arm that was under Hoseok's neck, around his head to pull him closer and to prevent him from reaching out to any cigarettes.

"I can't," Gingeboy answered simply with some sass in his tone. "Man I ain't gon' be the one to let you ruin your withdrawal."

"But it's hard," Hoseok moaned and Jooheon laughed at him.

"Believe me, it's worth it," he said, getting almost everyone to look at him with a confused expression.

"How would you know? You have never quit smoking," Changkyun asked in a tone that made Jooheon a bit flustered.

"Well... yeah, but... Well I can still imagine," Jooheon tried but Changkyun just snorted and looked away.

"I could really use a drink right now," Hyunwoo let out in a sigh and all the kids turned to look at Yongguk and Youjin, hoping that they would get the hint.

"I was thinking about keeping a sober weekend," Jooheon said and everyone looked at him confused again, leaving Yongguk and his friend alone - they weren't really feeling like buying underage kids alcohol anyways even though it wouldn't be the first time.

"You already drank yesterday though," Jen commented.

"I meant the rest of the weekend. And maybe the next weekend too," Jooheon corrected. Gingerboy muttered something like 'same'.

"I can feel my heartbeat on my face," Hoseok whispered and at first Hyungwon thought he had hit his head too hard and started to go insane but then realized that it made sense and let out a laugh.

"Do you want to go home and sleep?" Hyungwon asked and Hoseok's lips turned to a wide smile that revealed his teeth.

"Sleep, huh?" he said with a tone that was way too mischievous to the simple question Hyungwon had presented and sat up. Hyungwon stood on his feet and then helped Hoseok to get up too.

"Hey, Hyungwon, I think you should know that mother just came home as I left here," Yongguk said to the two guys that were starting to make their leave. "I would say be careful but I know that's the least you're gonna be."

"You're damn right," Hyungwon said, pulling Hoseok closer with the hand that was around his waist and meeting his eyes with a smile.

"Have fun," Jen said with a completely normal tone. Gingerboy smirked at that.

"We will," Hoseok told, starting to get a little embarrassed by all the innuendo that was going on. He and Hyungwon then turned around to leave.

They walked home slowly, Hyungwon holding Hoseok, who was stumbling upon his tired feet, close for the whole way. Getting to Hyungwon's room, Hoseok immediately laid on the bed, pulling Hyungwon down with him.

Hoseok put his hand behind Hyungwon's neck and pulled his head down to kiss him. Their lips started to move in sync and both of them could taste the metallic flavor of blood that was coming from a vertical cut on Hoseok's lips.

"I feel like, so happy today," Hoseok said, their lips parting just enough for them to talk. They could feel each other's heavy breaths against their lips.

"I feel like I love you so much," Hyungwon replied, looking down at Hoseok's lips that turned to a smile.

"Me too," Hoseok chuckled and Hyungwon leaned down to continue kiss him. Their night went on like that, sometimes rough and passionate, sometimes slow and deep and then later proceeding to make love, and to fall asleep whispering sweet confessions to each other after they were done.


End file.
